fairley's stats lie in bcs championship game

[nosuchthingasapanther]

A quick look at Nick Fairley's stat line in the BCS Championship game shows why he was the game's MVP and a future top-five pick in the draft.

Against Oregon, Fairley finished with five tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

However, if you look past the stat line, it's hard to consider Fairley for the first pick in the draft.

First and foremost, if Carolina moves to a 3-4 defense (as expected), Fairley is a poor scheme fit. As a three-technique tackle, Fairley's game is pressure and quickness. His game isn't based on strength. That showed early in the national title game when Fairley was controlled pretty well in the first quarter.

Of course, his three tackles for loss were impressive, but two of them came when he was completely unblocked. Fairley also got a lot of pressure going one-on-one against Oregon's undersized interior line. What made Oregon think that was a good idea, who knows.

What it did do, though, is inflate Fairley's stats. It pushed his tackles for loss on the year to 24 and his sacks to 11.5.

There is no question that Fairley is a good player. His playing style and effort could immediately give a defense an attitude. Rival teams will hate Fairley and his penchant for cheap shots.

There are questions about whether or not Fairley is a one-year wonder, or if he can take up two gaps in the NFL. Or if he has the power to take on and shed blockers.

The answers to all those questions point to Fairley being a big risk at the top of the draft, let alone as the first pick overall.

here...

this article was written before the rivera revealed carolina would stay with the 4-3 defense.

[Ja Rhule]

if Carolina moves to a 3-4 defense (as expected),

stopped reading after this

[scpanther22]

Fairley dominating the SEC all year was no lie.

Take him 1st.

[iiCaRoLiNa]

I am with Arsen. You do know Rivera already said we are sticking with a 4-3. and in 3 and 10's we will use some 3-4 looks to get pressure. Your Clueless. You should take this post down. We are playing a 4-3 defense. If you watched the press conf. you would know this. And why would Ron meeks be coming back if it was a 3-4? You really shouldnt say things that you are making up. Have a good day.

[Darknight]

I am with Arsen. You do know Rivera already said we are sticking with a 4-3. and in 3 and 10's we will use some 3-4 looks to get pressure. Your Clueless. You should take this post down. We are playing a 4-3 defense. If you watched the press conf. you would know this. And why would Ron meeks be coming back if it was a 3-4? You really shouldnt say things that you are making up. Have a good day.

um..at the bottom of the Article he did say that this article came out before Ron Rivera became Head Coach. Just saying.

[CatMan72]

Think about this: Oregon had 37 days to prepare for Fairley and he still had that kind of game against them...

[Darknight]

I am throwing this out here, by all means I think Fairly is a dominant player but some people can and WILL argue about Oregon's undersized line and the fact that they didn't even block him on a couple of plays. Some will even go out and say that he will never experience that type of success in the NFL.

[thunderraiden]

stopped reading after this

same. like not even another word.

[vorbis]

Oregon thought they could make plays around Fairley. They were confident in their offense and assumed they could move the ball down the field quicker than Fairley could penetrate to f*** s*** up. They thought they could single-team him and try to seal the edges with pulling guards. They were wrong and they lost the national championship because of it. (fairley was not the biggest or only reason Auburn won, fwiw)

in evaluating Fairley, the national championship game is not really compelling evidence of what he's capable of. it's more a sign of how dangerous he can be if you don't gameplan to contain him.

[mj4life]

plus our d line won't play 2 gap either way. rivera used a 1 gap cover 2 base 3 -4 so there is not much different than the 4-3 he plans to run here

[monstercat]

I am throwing this out here, by all means I think Fairly is a dominant player but some people can and WILL argue about Oregon's undersized line and the fact that they didn't even block him on a couple of plays. Some will even go out and say that he will never experience that type of success in the NFL.

Don't go by one game. Fairley led the SEC in sacks as a DT. That's pretty darn impressive since that conference is known for it's linemen on both sides of the ball.