Looking over some stats got me to thinking about who is standing out the most on offense and defense so far, with just 3 weeks left in the regular season, here's some guys that I see are front-runners right now.
Offensive MVP:
Deonte Williams, CPSLO. Williams leads the league in rushing with 1094 yards and is tied for the lead in rushing TDs with 9. He's 2nd in the conference just behind Greg Hardin in all-purpose yards and that's just because Hardin has about 340 KR yards.
Also in the running:
- Zach Baumann, RB, NAU. Right on Williams' heels. Could be a footrace to the finish between these two for MVP.
- Denarius McGhee, QB, MSU. McGhee is right in the mix with the top QBs in the Big Sky statistically, the two who are showing better numbers than him are Sorenson and Yost, system QBs on teams that aren't in the mix to win the conference. McGhee also is 2nd in the conference with total offense #s, adding in about 200 rushing yards as well.
- Brandon Kaufmann, WR, EWU. Will eclipse 1000 yards probably this weekend and has 8 TDs. Unlike Hardin at UND, Kaufmann has done this all season long, Hardin's stats took a giant boost over Kaufmann thanks to the Grizzly pass D. Hardin would be in this mix as well considering his stats, however I think he gets dinged b/c UND is out of the playoffs and about 1/3 of all of his stats came in a single game.
Dark Horse picks:
- Garret Saffron, QB, Sac. His stock will rise if Sac beats MSU. Saffron has come out of no where and thrown 18 TDs this season (2nd best behind Sorenson & Yost). He's also got almost 400 rushing yards and 2 more TDs there.
- Brad Sorenson, QB, SUU. While McGhee and Saffron have had luxuries of a solid rushing game, Sorenson has done it all himself. Sac has a 700 yard rusher plus almost 400 from Saffron, MSU has two 500 yard rusher, SUU has just one rusher who is at 500 yards. Sorenson is a huge part of the SUU offense and is putting up good #s again this year.
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Defensive MVP: tough call here, stats aren't as clear cut. When looking at the options a defensive MVP has a little more intangible factors (like Tru last year, no eye-popping stats but widely recognized as a great defender). However if I were to put it out there today I'd go this way for defensive MVP:
Ian Sluss, PSU: 76 tackles puts him 5th in the conference, tied with a group for 4th best TFLs with 9.5 (and hardly any of those being sacks), tied for 4th best with passes defended, best in the league with 4 INTs and 2 TDs scored on those, leads the league in fumble recoveries with 4.
Others in the mix:
- Zak Browning, SUU. Has 96 tackles on the season already, will probably finish up with nearly 130 tackles. He's a freshman, could be looking at newcomer of the year award.
- Jerry Ceja, EWU. Gotta give the conference sack leader a mention, 9 sacks so far. Could put Zach Wagenmann in this as well, he's just 1 off Ceja, however Wags is getting this done with two other Griz in the top sacks list (Tripp and Holmes) - Ceja is the only Eagle with more than 2.5 sacks, getting it done even though no one else on the EWU D-line has stepped up - thus fighting through more double teams.
- Jordan Tripp, UM. Tripp's tackle totals have dropped a bit recently, his stats aren't tops in any field but he can be found in the mix for tops on many lists, 13th in tackles with 74, 11th in sacks with 4.5, tied 1st in TFLs with 12, 4th in forced fumbles with 4 - has 1 fumble recovery for a TD and 1 INT
- Caleb Schreibeis, MSU. Gotta look at a guy from statistically the best D in the conference, 3rd best in sacks with 7.5, 5th best in TFLs with 9, tied 2nd best with forced fumbles in 3.
Dark Horse picks.
- Only guy I'd wonder about would be TJ Lee at EWU who might be the best corner in the Big Sky but has marginal stats b/c teams avoid him at most costs. He does have 49 tackles this year but much like Tru last year isn't showing up in other categories b/c teams avoid him.
Special Teams:
Dominic Gunn, UNC: The Griz saw what he can do. He's got the highest total of special teams all purpose yards that I can see and has 1 KR and 1 PR touchdown. 3rd best KR average in the conference and an 18.3 yard/return average on PRs - which I'll just guess is the best for punt returners that get a lot of touches.
Offensive MVP:
Deonte Williams, CPSLO. Williams leads the league in rushing with 1094 yards and is tied for the lead in rushing TDs with 9. He's 2nd in the conference just behind Greg Hardin in all-purpose yards and that's just because Hardin has about 340 KR yards.
Also in the running:
- Zach Baumann, RB, NAU. Right on Williams' heels. Could be a footrace to the finish between these two for MVP.
- Denarius McGhee, QB, MSU. McGhee is right in the mix with the top QBs in the Big Sky statistically, the two who are showing better numbers than him are Sorenson and Yost, system QBs on teams that aren't in the mix to win the conference. McGhee also is 2nd in the conference with total offense #s, adding in about 200 rushing yards as well.
- Brandon Kaufmann, WR, EWU. Will eclipse 1000 yards probably this weekend and has 8 TDs. Unlike Hardin at UND, Kaufmann has done this all season long, Hardin's stats took a giant boost over Kaufmann thanks to the Grizzly pass D. Hardin would be in this mix as well considering his stats, however I think he gets dinged b/c UND is out of the playoffs and about 1/3 of all of his stats came in a single game.
Dark Horse picks:
- Garret Saffron, QB, Sac. His stock will rise if Sac beats MSU. Saffron has come out of no where and thrown 18 TDs this season (2nd best behind Sorenson & Yost). He's also got almost 400 rushing yards and 2 more TDs there.
- Brad Sorenson, QB, SUU. While McGhee and Saffron have had luxuries of a solid rushing game, Sorenson has done it all himself. Sac has a 700 yard rusher plus almost 400 from Saffron, MSU has two 500 yard rusher, SUU has just one rusher who is at 500 yards. Sorenson is a huge part of the SUU offense and is putting up good #s again this year.
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Defensive MVP: tough call here, stats aren't as clear cut. When looking at the options a defensive MVP has a little more intangible factors (like Tru last year, no eye-popping stats but widely recognized as a great defender). However if I were to put it out there today I'd go this way for defensive MVP:
Ian Sluss, PSU: 76 tackles puts him 5th in the conference, tied with a group for 4th best TFLs with 9.5 (and hardly any of those being sacks), tied for 4th best with passes defended, best in the league with 4 INTs and 2 TDs scored on those, leads the league in fumble recoveries with 4.
Others in the mix:
- Zak Browning, SUU. Has 96 tackles on the season already, will probably finish up with nearly 130 tackles. He's a freshman, could be looking at newcomer of the year award.
- Jerry Ceja, EWU. Gotta give the conference sack leader a mention, 9 sacks so far. Could put Zach Wagenmann in this as well, he's just 1 off Ceja, however Wags is getting this done with two other Griz in the top sacks list (Tripp and Holmes) - Ceja is the only Eagle with more than 2.5 sacks, getting it done even though no one else on the EWU D-line has stepped up - thus fighting through more double teams.
- Jordan Tripp, UM. Tripp's tackle totals have dropped a bit recently, his stats aren't tops in any field but he can be found in the mix for tops on many lists, 13th in tackles with 74, 11th in sacks with 4.5, tied 1st in TFLs with 12, 4th in forced fumbles with 4 - has 1 fumble recovery for a TD and 1 INT
- Caleb Schreibeis, MSU. Gotta look at a guy from statistically the best D in the conference, 3rd best in sacks with 7.5, 5th best in TFLs with 9, tied 2nd best with forced fumbles in 3.
Dark Horse picks.
- Only guy I'd wonder about would be TJ Lee at EWU who might be the best corner in the Big Sky but has marginal stats b/c teams avoid him at most costs. He does have 49 tackles this year but much like Tru last year isn't showing up in other categories b/c teams avoid him.
Special Teams:
Dominic Gunn, UNC: The Griz saw what he can do. He's got the highest total of special teams all purpose yards that I can see and has 1 KR and 1 PR touchdown. 3rd best KR average in the conference and an 18.3 yard/return average on PRs - which I'll just guess is the best for punt returners that get a lot of touches.
