Draft Scout Snapshot: DS Rating on 8/24/08: #9 OLB, #85/750 Overall, Projected Rnd: 3-4
2008: English earned All-Mid American Conference first-team honors, as he was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year by the league's coaches and media, in addition to being selected by The Sporting News…Captured the Vern Smith Leadership Award for the second-straight year, just the fourth player and first defender to win that honor twice in a career…Member of the Bronko Nagurski Award, Ted Hendricks Award, Rotary Lombardi Award and Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Watch Lists…Named MAC Player of the Week vs. Tennessee and Kent State…Had an injury-plagued year, as he first underwent knee surgery in January to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, missing most of spring drills with a torn pectoral muscle and then played most of the season with pins in his thumb after undergoing surgery for a broken bone in his hand…English was limited to a career-low 37 tackles (26 solos), but he led the team and ranked fourth in the conference with eight sacks for minus 57 yards…Led the Huskies and finished third in the MAC with 16.0 stops for losses totaling 73 yards…Added two quarterback pressures with three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and a pass deflection while starting all thirteen games at right defensive end…Opponents managed just three yards on 34 running plays to his side of the field (0.09 ypc) and completed only 2-of-7 passes thrown into his area (28.57%) for 11 yards (5.5 yards per completion/1.57 yards per attempt)…Made twelve third-down tackles, including nine vs. the run, adding another stop on fourth-down…Allowed just five first downs, all coming on rushing plays, as he stopped ball carriers for no gain twice…
Helped the team lead the MAC and rank 17th in the nation in total defense (298.46 ypg) and placed 14th nationally in scoring defense (18.0 ppg)...2007: 12 GP; 12 GS; 29 Sol-67 TT, 17 TFL, 10.5 SK, 2 PBU, 3 QBH, 1 FR, 1 FF; Was on the field for 98 percent (894 of 916) of the team's defensive plays during the year. Earned the MAC's Vern Smith Leadership Award (league MVP), becoming the second consecutive Huskie to do so, and was a consensus choice first team All-MAC. First defensive player to win the award since the first year of the award in 1982. Named to the Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List and the Ted Hendricks Award Midseason Watch list. Named the team's defensive MVP. Registered a team-best 17 tackles for loss, the third-highest total in NIU history, with 1.42 tackles for loss per game, ranked 18th in the country. His 10.5 sacks led the MAC and ranked tied for 11th nationally as he averaged 0.88 sacks per game. Had a TFL in 10 of 12 games played. Also broke up a pair of passes.
Post-Draft Outlook: A closer look at the Chargers' picks: Round 1/16 - Larry English, LB, 6-2, 255, Northern Illinois...The Chargers add another pass-rusher on the edge to a 3-4 alignment already featuring Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips. - by The Sports Xchange
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