2011 Powerratedsports.com All-Bilo FBS DL of the Year

Three key components were brought into play when it came time to consider our Defensivel Lineman of the Year Award winner. We considered sacks, tackles for loss, and total tackles on the season. A blend of those three numbers brought us to our winner of the award for this season. Here are the finalists:

Andre Branch, Clemson
Damonte Moore, Texas A&M
Sean Parker, Texas A&M
Derek Wolfe, Cincinnati
Whitney Mercilus, Illinois
Vinny Curry, Marshall
John Simon, Ohio State
Cordarro Law, Southern Mississippi
Drew Nowak, Western Michigan
Brett Roy, Nevada
Logan Harrell, Fresno State
Travis Johnson, San Jose State

And the winner is...


Drew Nowak, Western Michigan
Nowak was a seriously disruptive force for the Broncos this season, and on defense, was one of the primary reasons for the Broncos return to the bowl season in 2011. Nowak finished the season with 91 tackles on the season, a number most impressive for any defensive lineman. He added 8.5 sacks on the season, and was also good for an outstanding 20.5 tackles for loss on the season. Nowak's best game for tackles was against Illinois, when he collected 11 tackles on the night, and he positively dominated Akron by collecting 5 TFLs in that one game.