Compare/Contrast

To wrap up part 2 of the BTB's preseason awards, I thought I'd do some compare/contrast ramblings with what turned out to be the tabulated results.

Here is what the BTB voted.

Offense

QB - Curtis Painter, Purdue
RB - Beanie Wells, Ohio State
RB - Javon Ringer, Michigan State
WR - Brian Robiskie, Ohio State
WR - Arrelious Benn, Illinois
WR - Greg Orton, Purdue
TE/SB - Travis Beckum, Wisconsin
OT - Alex Boone, Ohio State
OG - Steve Rehring, Ohio State
C - AQ Shipley, Penn State
OG - Kraig Urbik, Wisconsin
OT - Eric Vanden Heuvel, Wisconsin

For those not paying attention, here is what I voted:

QB: C.J. Bacher NW
RB: Chris Wells OSU
RB: Javon Ringer MSU
WR: Arrelious Benn IL
WR: Brian Robiskie OSU
WR: Brian Hartline OSU
TE: Travis Beckem WI
OT: Alex Boone OSU
OT: Gerald Cadogan PSU
OG: Jon Skinner OSU
OG: Steve Schilling UM
C: Ryan McDonald IL

Apparently, I was one of two who voted for C.J. Bacher - with the other being LTP themselves. I am genuinely surprised by this, as I genuinely doubt the playmaking ability of Curtis Painter. He was best described as "middling" last season, and I don't see Purdue getting any better as a team this season.

I was dead on with running backs, which is no surprise given that Beanie Wells is a definite Heisman favorite, and Javon Ringer has been good since he first strapped 'em up for the Spartans. I would have loved to see the final results of the vote to see how close P.J. Hill was to getting that second slot. On a tangent - why did everyone fall off the "P.J. Hill is the second coming" bandwagon? Take a look at his stats:

2006

1569 Yards
15 TD's
121 YPG
5.05 YPC

2007

1212 Yards
14 TD's
111 YPG
5.20 YPC

He played in 2 less games in '07, which is why his total yards and (probably) TD's are down, but other than that, it looks like a carbon copy of his 2006 campaign that saw him earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

My wideout picks were pretty much dead on. Greg Orton could be good - but only as good as Painter. Apparently, the BTB as a group think higher of Purdue than I do. I knew that it was either going to be Hartline or Robiskie in the final tally - and I was right. My hypothetical 4th pick would have been for Greg Matthews before Orton.

The Tight End position was such a foregone conclusion that I'm not going to even say "told you so."

In hindsight, I completely missed Rehring, who should have definitely been included on my vote. Other than that, I believe the linemen I selected have just as much probability of being awesome as any of those who made the final cut.

Defense


Final Vote:

DE- Greg Middleton, Indiana
DE - Maurice Evans, Penn State
DT - Terrance Taylor, Michigan
DT - Mitch King, Iowa
LB - James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
LB - Marcus Freeman, Ohio State
LB - Anthony Heygood, Purdue
S - Anthony Scirrotto, Penn State
S - Anderson Russell, Ohio State
CB - Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State
CB - Vontae Davis, Illinois

Beauford's vote:

CB: Morgan Trent MI
CB: Vontae Davis IL
SS: Anthony Scirrotto PSU
FS: Shane Carter WI
OLB: James Laurinitis OSU
OLB: Marcus Freeman OSU
MLB: Greg Jones MSU
DE: Maurice Evans PSU
DE: Greg Middleton IN
DT: John Gill NW
DT: Terrence Taylor MI

Ignore the formatting issues here - it's Friday.

I knew that Jenkins would get the final nod - and probably deservedly so. I still believe that Morgan Trent is going to have an outstanding year - but he is definitely a long-shot compared to Jenkins. Carter is kind of in the same vein as Trent - but he's more a complete unknown. His season last year was the kind of charmed season that DB's are sometimes presented with. 7 INT's in 13 games and, IIRC, he wasn't even a full-time starter. I think, given the year's development, the fact that he's on a Biliema defense, and his already proven nose for the ball, he could have a monster year to unseat Russell for the All Conference nod.

I am actually shocked that Greg Jones didn't make the final cut. We all knew that the two linebackers from Ohio State would make it - but Anthony Heygood beats out Greg Jones (who? Greg Jooanes)?

Stat comparison:

Total tackles

Jones - 78
Heygood - 80

Sacks

Jones - 4.5
Heygood - 1 and even this one is "iffy"

TFL's

Jones - 8.5
Heygood - 14

The only thing that Heygood has a clear advantage in is TFL's, while getting blown out in sacks. I had to really dig to find how many sacks Heygood had last year - finally landing on "one" from a Purdue website. All my usual stats pages didn't have him listed - hence the "iffy" assessment. Mark it down now - Greg Jones is going to not only be All-Conference this year - he's going to be in the running for some All-American teams.

King for Gill is the only other discrepancy - and one that I can live with.

Totals


Overall, I was 13 for 23 on total picks being "correct" if the final BTB vote is to be considered correct. It should be noted that 4 of those incorrect picks were due to my own (admitted) lack of knowledge on offensive line play. The only egregious error on my part was the omission of Steve Rehring. Otherwise, I stand by my picks in their entirety.

Feel differently? Enlighten me in the comments section.