In today's mailbag, we exclusively discuss our Big 12 Top 25 player countdown of 2013, which concluded earlier today. No matter how rational or irrational, all grievances were heard.
To the 'bag:
Jon D. in Davis, Calif., writes: You wrote in your Top 25 Big 12 player countdown that no defense figured out how to stop Jace Amaro. Well, he only had four catches for 55 yards in the Baylor game. Yeah, I would say Baylor stopped him. Those aren't exactly eye-popping numbers for the No. 1 player in the Big 12.
Jake Trotter: You conveniently leave out the fact that Amaro had two touchdown catches in that game. Or that Baylor safety Ahmad Dixon sent him to the locker room late in the first half with a hit up high. Sure, Amaro eventually came back, but he wasn’t the same after that hit. So if you count injuring Amaro as a means of stopping him, then yeah, I guess you’re technically right.
Brandon Thompson in Fort Worth, Texas, writes: How is the Big 12 Player of the Year No. 2 on this list? That makes no sense.
Jake Trotter: This is actually a very good question. And I agree, a compelling case could be made for Petty atop the list. But to me, “player of the year” and “best player” are two different things. A player of the year award has a team element to it. In other words, what effect, tangibly and intangibly, did that player have on his team, and in turn, how did that team perform as a result? That’s why I felt like Oklahoma State linebacker Caleb Lavey should have been in the discussion for the Big 12 defensive player of the year. By no means was Lavey even close to being the “best” player in the Big 12. But he was the glue and emotional leader of Oklahoma State’s stark defensive turnaround. Likewise, Petty was the engine of the Baylor scoring machine, and Baylor winning its first Big 12 championship was no small feat. Petty was also a better player than Lavey, and pretty much everyone else in the league. But Petty was surrounded with other big-time players, including three other players in our top 12 (running back Lache Seastrunk, wideout Antwan Goodley and guard Cyril Richardson). Amaro produced despite playing with a pair of rotating true freshman quarterbacks. We believed, in a vacuum, Amaro was the more dominating force – and the “best” player in the league.
Josh in Dallas writes: I saw that you put Petty at No. 2. I am a Baylor fan and have enjoyed this past season. But I was not impressed with Petty when the competition stepped up. The first half of the season his receivers were wide open, but in the final five games, it looked like he was still looking for Tevin Reese to be out there. Am I being too harsh?
Jake Trotter: If we had done this countdown in early November, there’s no doubt Petty would have been No. 1. But in his last three games, Petty produced Adjusted QBRs (scale 0-to-100) of 70.5, 75.8 and 62.1 -- far below what his season average had been. That doesn’t even include his Oklahoma State performance, in which he put up big stats after the final score was no longer in doubt to salvage a QBR of 89.3. Petty still had a tremendous season. But when Baylor was missing key offensive players because of injury, his production dipped.
Jake in Dallas writes: Jake, since it’s widely accepted that the two best defensive ends in the Big 12 were the Texas duo of Cedric Reed and Jackson Jeffcoat, you'll understand everyone dismissing your top 25 big list. Ryan Mueller ahead of Reed?
Jake Trotter: It couldn’t have been that widely accepted. Mueller was a coaches first-team All-Big 12 selection, along with three other defensive ends. Reed was not one of them.
James in Houston writes: Hey guys, I was a little surprised you didn't have Texas Tech LB Will Smith in your Top 25 players list. At No. 23 you have Eric Striker from Oklahoma, who only had 49 tackles and seven sacks. Smith had 120 tackles and five sacks. The other linebackers on that list definitely deserved to be on there. But 120 tackles to 49? Come on!
Jake Trotter: If we only went by stats, this list would have been easy to put together. Smith was a very fine player who had a great season, even if the Texas Tech defense itself struggled at times. But examining Striker’s tackle statistics alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Striker was deployed almost exclusively as a blitzing linebacker, and was the best in the Big 12 in that role -- as Alabama found out in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. We liked Smith, but we liked Texas Tech DT Kerry Hyder even more. Hyder was one of the first players to miss the cut.
Alan in Austin, Texas, writes: Was your ranking and description of Cyril Richardson written before or after the recent Senior Bowl? I think he was ranked too high, based upon his performance against NFL-quality defensive linemen.
Jake Trotter: The 2013 season ended when the final Big 12 bowl game was concluded. We didn’t account for anything that’s happened since. Richardson had a phenomenal final season at Baylor, and we only evaluated him -- and every other player -- in that context.