Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
Note: With the NFL draft approaching later in April, we thought it would be fun to look back at the Pac-10’s top draft picks of the past decade (2000-09) to see where we would pick them. Continuing today and ending sometime close to the draft on April 25, we’ll count down a first round worth of Pac-10 draft picks, from 32 to 1. The list includes five quarterbacks, five running backs, five defensive linemen, six linebackers, three defensive backs, three wide receivers, three offensive linemen and two tight ends.
5. TERRELL SUGGS, ARIZONA STATE, DE
No one in Pac-10 history has been better at getting to the quarterback than Terrell Suggs. And isn’t that one of the tenets to a great defense: putting fear into the opposing quarterback?
The 6-foot-3 Suggs left Arizona State following his junior year and nine Pac-10 coaches applauded, because frankly, he had become unguardable. During Suggs’ wrecking ball of a junior season in 2002, he established Pac-10 records for sacks (24) and tackles for loss (31.5). Had he stuck around for his senior year, Suggs almost certainly would have smashed the NCAA career record for sacks – he had 44, and the record is 52. Suggs earned the Lombardi Award in 2002 as the country’s top lineman.
The defining game of Suggs’ 2002 season was against Washington, when he had 4½ sacks of Husky quarterback Cody Pickett, who saw a streak of 300-yard passing performances end in that game. “Honestly, there were a lot of times I turned around and he was already on the ground,” UW guard Elliott Zajac said after that game.
Even though Suggs went into pro football as the second youngest player on record at age 20, the NFL hasn’t had much more success in stopping him. Suggs has had at least eight sacks in five of his six seasons playing for Baltimore, including a career-high 12 during his rookie year.
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