2007 CFN All-America Defense

2007 CollegeFootballNews.com All-America Defense and Top Players

2007 CFN All-America Defense

The Best Defensive Players
  

2007 CFN All-America Offense | 2007 CFN All-America Special Teams
2006 CFN All-America Team

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 Defensive Lineman

Second Team
5. DE Chris Long, Sr. Virginia
6. DE Wallace Gilberry, Sr. Bama
7. DE Greg Hardy, Soph. Ole Miss
8. DE Vernon Gholston, Soph. OSU
Third Team
9. DE Chris Ellis, Sr. Virginia Tech
10. DE Nick Reed, Jr. Oregon
11. DE Maurice Evans, Soph. PSU
12. DE Lawrence Jackson, Sr. USC
Honorable Mention
13. DT Lorenzo Williams, Sr. Miss.
14. DE Chase Ortiz, Sr. TCU
15. DE Jan Jorgensen, Soph. BYU
16. DT James Jones, Sr. EMU

DT Glenn Dorsey, Sr. LSU
64 tackles, 6 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss
Unfortunately, Dorsey's season, complete with all the awards for a defensive lineman, might be about what might have been. What if he didn't have to gut it out over the second half of the year through a knee injury? He showed tremendous heart and toughness as the leader and star of the terrific Tiger D, and when he was right, he was unstoppable.

DT Sedrick Ellis, Sr. USC
56 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, 6 broken up passes
While LSU's Glenn Dorsey was getting all the national accolades, it could be argued that Ellis had the better season highlighted by a brilliant 12 tackle day in the loss to Oregon. The NFL scouts are drooling over his burst into the backfield and his ability to grow into the anchor role over the last few years.

DE Greg Middleton, Soph. Indiana
50 tackles, 16 sacks, 17 tackles for loss
Indiana's defense revolved around getting pressure into the backfield, and it's not a stretch to say the emergence of Middleton was the difference between just another IU season and a bowl game. The nation's steadiest pass rusher had a sack in every game but two, and both were losses.

DE George Selvie, Soph. South Florida
57 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 31.5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 9 quarterback hurries
Selvie got to the point where it became big news when he didn't come up with a spectacular game. A phenomenal athlete with a lightning quick burst off the line, he forced Big East teams to double and triple team him as the season went on. Yes, his sack production tailed off over the second half of the year, but he still made plays in the backfield throughout.

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 Linebackers

Second Team
4. Scott McKillop, Jr. Pitt
5. James Laurinaitis, Jr. Ohio State
6. J Leman, Sr. Illinois
Third Team
7. Spencer Larsen, Sr. Arizona
8. Sean Lee, Jr. Penn State
9. Shawn Crable, Sr. Michigan   
Honorable Mention
10. Beau Bell, Sr. UNLV
11. Jerod Mayo, Jr. Tennessee
12. Keith Rivers, Sr. USC
13. Rey Maualuga, Jr. USC
14. Erin Henderson, Jr. Maryland
15. Brandon Spikes, Soph. Florida
16. Wesley Woodyard, Sr. Kent.

Dan Connor, Sr. Penn State
136 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 6 broken up passes
There were insider rumblings that Connor, not Paul Posluszny, was the best Penn State linebacker last year, and while he's not the talent that Poz was, he filled in the footsteps with one of the great seasons in school history. He came through biggest in the brightest spotlight with 18 tackles against Ohio State, 12 against Wisconsin, and back when Notre Dame was supposed to be Notre Dame, 12 stops. An elite pass rusher, he was a steady backfield presence all year long.

Jordon Dizon, Sr. Colorado
149 tackles, 4 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 3 broken up passes
One of the nation's best tacklers over the last three seasons with 356 career stops, Dizon came up with his best year yet starting off with 49 tackles in his first three games against Colorado State, Arizona State and Florida State. The hitting machine was all of the place for the resurgent Buff defense finishing with eight double-digit tackle games while doing a fantastic job of getting into the backfield.

Curtis Lofton, Jr. Oklahoma
142 tackles, 1 sack, 9.5 tackles for loss, 2 broken up passes, 4 forced fumbles
The do-it-all playmaker and leader of the Sooner defense came through with two of the biggest plays of the year, both against Missouri, to turn the tide of the Big 12 season and push the Sooners to a title. He made 18 tackles in the first game against the Tigers and had eight games with double-digit stops.

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 Defensive Backs

Second Team
5. CB Alphonso Smith, Jr. WF
6. CB Mike Mickens, Jr. Cincinnati
7. FS Rashad Johnson, Jr. Bama
8. CB Mike Jenkins, Sr. USF
Third Team
9. SS Kenny Phillips, Jr. Miami
10. CB Reggie Smith, Jr. Oklahoma
11. SS Chris Horton, Sr. UCLA
12. FS Jonathan Hefney, Sr. Tenn.
Honorable Mention
13. SS Patrick Chung, Jr. Oregon
14. CB Terrence Wheatley, Sr. Col.
15. SS Tyrell Johnson, Sr. Ark. St
16. FS William Moore, Jr. Missouri

CB Antoine Cason, Sr. Arizona
71 tackles, 5 interceptions (with two for TDs), 14 broken up passes, 27 punt returns for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns
Known as one of the premier cover-corners in the country, and the winner of the Thorpe Award, Cason was also one of the best open field tackling cornerbacks. He came through with his best game of the year with the world watching, making seven tackles an interception for a touchdown and taking a punt for a score in the win over Oregon.

FS Jamie Silva, Sr. Boston College
75 tackles, 6 interceptions, 4 tackles for loss, 3 broken up passes
Silva did a little of everything for the tremendous BC defense, leading the team, and the nation's number one run defense, in tackles while also leading the way in interceptions. The hard-hitting playmaker made 18 stops in the loss to Florida State and came up with 75 solo tackles on the year.

S Craig Steltz, Sr. LSU
97 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions, 7 broken up passes, 3 forced fumbles
Steltz started off the year with three interceptions against Mississippi State, and he only got better from there as the playmaker in the LSU secondary who seemed to always come through with the big hit or the key tackle at the right time. He came up with 16 tackles in the win over Florida and 16 more in the classic triple-overtime loss to Arkansas.

CB Aqib Talib, Jr. Kansas
61 tackles, 4 interceptions, 13 broken up passes, 4 tackles for loss, 8 catches for 182 yards and four TDs
As the season went on, it became more about what Talib didn't do than what he did, as offenses quit throwing his way. Early on, he helped the offense explode with four touchdown grabs in the first five games, and then he was needed almost exclusively on defense where he focused full-time on being a shut-down corner.