We are doubling up today so we can end the countdown Monday with No. 1. Bet you have already figured it out ...
No. 2 Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State
2012 stats: Werner led the ACC and ranked second in the NCAA with 13 total sacks, en route to winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous All-America honors. He entered the Orange Bowl leading the nation in yards accumulated on tackles behind the line of scrimmage (134), and finished the season with a career-high 42 tackles, career-high 18 tackles for loss and eight pass breakups in addition to his career-high sack total.
Previous ranking: No. 11
Making the case: Based on what Werner did in 2011, just about everybody predicted he would be in line for a monster season. And he had one, dominating just about every lineman he faced en route to winning league defensive player of the year honors by a wide margin over teammate Cornellius "Tank" Carradine. Werner declared for the NFL draft when the season ended and is a surefire first-round pick, projected to go somewhere in the top 10.
Over his last two seasons, Werner recorded a sack or tackle for loss in 17 of Florida State's 27 games, and a tackle in 34 straight contets. He was one of just four defensive linemen in the NCAA to have eight or more pass breakups. Of the other three, nobody had more than five sacks. He ends his career with 23.5 sacks. Only Peter Boulware had more in his FSU career.
No. 3 Jonathan Cooper, OG, UNC
No. 4 Giovani Bernard, RB, UNC
No. 5 DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson
No. 6 Cornellius "Tank" Carradine, DE, Florida State
No. 7 Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina
No. 8 Dalton Freeman, C, Clemson
No. 9 Andre Ellington, RB, Clemson
No. 10 Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State
No. 11 Duke Johnson, RB, Miami
No. 12 Conner Vernon, WR, Duke
No. 14 Joe Vellano, DL, Maryland
No. 15 Lamarcus Joyner, S, Florida State
No. 16 Kevin Reddick, LB, North Carolina
No. 17 Stefon Diggs, WR, Maryland
No. 18 Ross Cockrell, CB, Duke
No. 19 Dustin Hopkins, K, Florida State
No. 20 Bryn Renner, QB, North Carolina
No. 21 Alex Amidon, WR, Boston College
No. 22 Antone Exum, CB, Virginia Tech
No. 23 Omoregie Uzzi, OG, Georgia Tech
No. 24 Michael Campanaro, WR, Wake Forest
No. 25 Mike Glennon, QB, NC State
