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The Big 12's Best: Defensive backs

Dave Behr

Teams took their first steps towards the 2012 football season during spring practices across the country over the last few months.

There will be a lot of new names and faces around the Big 12 next season with the addition of West Virginia and TCU, as well as the departure of high-profile players to the NFL, graduation…or the SEC.

Hookem.com will go through the new-look Big 12 and find the best players at each position as the long road to the 2012 BCS National Championship begins on practice fields around the conference.

Defensive back

10. Cody Davis, Sr. - Texas Tech
2011 stats: 93 tackles, 3 TFL, 5 passes defended, 1 forced fumble

2011's leading tackler returns for the Red Raider defense and is expected to be one of the top defensive backs in the conference in 2012. Davis, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, finished seventh in the conference a year ago with 8.45 tackles per game in the 11 games in which he appeared (didn’t play vs. Nevada). Exactly how big of an impact he’ll have on the Red Raider defense is going to be a question, as Tech moves on from last year in which they had the second worst QB rating against in the conference, allowing quarterbacks to put up a 155.34 mark against them. They only allowed 226.8 yards per game through the air last year, but teams threw fewer times against the Red Raiders than any other team in the conference, likely because so many of their games were out of hand in the second half.

Injuries were a big part of Tech’s issues in 2011 (both on offense and defense), a healthy stable of defensive backs could be just what head coach Tommy Tuberville needs on defense. This fall Tech will move back to a 4-3 base defense under new defensive coordinator Art Kauffman. There’s a lot of experience returning in the Red Raider defensive backfield, but look for Davis, a four-year starter, to be the leader, and the one who could set the tone for a more successful season against the pass in 2012.

9. Ahmad Dixon, Jr. - Baylor
2011 stats: 89 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 Int, 4 Passes defended, 3 FR

The former four-star recruit out of Waco Midway played in all 13 games as a sophomore in 2011 as a nickelback or in Baylor's “Bear” position. Dixon returns as Baylor’s nickel/corner/linebacker hybrid in defensive coordinator Phil Bennett’s system in 2012 after a successful sophomore season. One of the highest-rated players Baylor has signed out of high school in recent memory (No. 25 by 247Sports in 2010), the 6-foot, 205-pound safety (for lack of a more accurate term) is going to be looked at as a leader on the Baylor defense by his play on the field.

8. Justin Gilbert, Jr. - Oklahoma State
2011 stats: 59 tackles, 1 TFL, 5 Int, 15 passes defended, 1 FR, 27.0 KR avg, 2 KR TD
Gilbert was the Defensive MVP of Oklahoma State’s Fiesta Bowl win over Stanford after intercepting the great Andrew Luck to end the 2011 season. He finished the year with 15 passes defended, good for sixth in the Big 12 and 30th in the country. He was also second in the Big 12 in interceptions with five on the year. Gilbert is a good cover corner that’s been projected to go as high as the first round of the 2013 draft if he continues to build off his sophomore campaign.

His skills as a corner get him on this list, but what makes him even more special are his return skills. Gilbert was honorable mention All-Big 12 as a punt/kick returner after finishing the year with two returns for touchdowns and a 27-yard average per kick return. The 6-foot, 194-pounder has speed for days and is part of one of the best corner combos in the country with teammate Brodrick Brown.

7. Demontre Hurst, Sr. – Oklahoma
2011 stats: 55 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 Int, 12 passes defended, 2 FR, 1 FF

The first of two Sooner defensive backs comes in at No. 7. Hurst was second-team All-Big 12 in 2011 with his 12 defended passes. His experience is what will make him even more dangerous in 2012. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound corner has started the last 27 games for Oklahoma, and has appeared in 40 going back to his true freshman season in 2009.

The Lancaster product will be one of the better players on what is looking like a strong defensive backfield for head coach Bob Stoops in Norman in 2012.

6. Quandre Diggs, So. – Texas
2011 stats: 51, tackles, 4 TFL, 4 Int, 19 passes defended, 2 FF 20.1 PR avg., 19.5 KR avg

The Defensive Freshman of the Year in the Big 12 returns on what will be the most stacked secondary in the Big 12, and possibly the country, in 2012. Diggs, also a second-team All-Big 12 honoree, finished second in the conference with 19 passes defended and fourth with four interceptions as a true freshman.

In his second year at UT, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz will continue to blitz liberally, meaning his corners will have a lot of pressure to play on an island in man coverage on some very talented Big 12 receivers. The 5-foot-9, 198-pound sophomore – the only sophomore to make this list – is one of the main reasons Diaz feels he’ll be able to get away with it. The other reason? Keep reading...

5. Carrington Byndom, Jr. – Texas
2011 stats: 58 tackles, 8 TFL, 2 Int, 17 passes defended, 1 FR, 1 FF

Back-to-back Longhorns on this list of the conference's best DBs. That's got to make Mack Brown a happy camper. One of the reasons the Texas defense is expected to be so good this year is because of Diaz's blitzing scheme. And he'll be able to dial up all that pressure because he has two corners that can lock down the best receivers in the Big 12.

Byndom stepped up and had some huge moments during his sophomore year; matching up against future NFL first-rounder Justin Blackmon and returning an interception for a touchdown against Texas A&M to name a few. Byndom was honorable mention All-Big 12, but he proved by the end of the season that he has the ability to cover any receiver the opposing team wants to throw at him.

4. Tony Jefferson, Jr. – Oklahoma
2011 stats: 74 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 4 Int, 7 passes defended, 1 FF

If a guy is getting compared to former Oklahoma safety Roy Williams, it's a compliment. A big one. Well, that's exactly what's happening in Norman with junior Tony Jefferson. The versatile defender picked up honorable mention All-Big 12 honors last year when he tied for fourth in the conference with four interceptions. He was third among the league's defensive backs with 7.5 tackles for loss.

He did his damage last year playing nickel for the Sooners, but he'll be in a free safety position in 2012 where he can try to build off yet another stat-stuffing season (had 65 tackles, 7 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 int., and 1 FR as a freshman).

3. Nigel Malone, Sr. - Kansas State
2011 stats: 58 tackles, 7 Int, 17 passes defended, 1 FR

Does Bill Snyder have the magic tough with JUCO transfers or what? Snyder plucked three-star Nigel Malone out of City College of San Francisco and turned him into the Big 12 leader in interceptions in one year.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior picked first team All-Big 12 after leading the conference in interceptions and finishing fourth in passes defended with 17, including two against the Longhorns. He has great instincts and will make even the best quarterbacks pay if they decide try to attack his side of the field.

2. Brodrdick Brown, Sr. - Oklahoma State
2011 stats: 68 tackles, 4 TFL, 20 passes defended, 2 FR

Brown is the other returning first-team All-Big 12 cornerback in the conference. His incredible 20 defended passes led the Big 12 and were second in the country by just one. The 5-foot-8, 183-pound fifth-year senior from Houston Westfield teams up with Gilbert to give Texas a run for its money as to who has the best cornerback duo in the conference.

Brown is the smallest guy on this list, but that didn't stop him from tearing it up against some Big 12 wide receivers in 2011. His memorable moment came in 2010 when he made that incredible play by tipping a ball back in bounds to teammate Shaun Lewis for an interception against Oklahoma.

1. Kenny Vaccaro, Sr. – Texas
2011 stats: 82 tackles, 8 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 Int, 10 passes defended

Kenny Vaccaro is yet another Big 12 defensive back that opted to forego the NFL Draft and return to school for his senior season. He's vowed to turn himself into an all-around defensive back instead of just a heavy hitter like he was at the beginning of his Longhorn career.

Last year he started to show he has the ability to be as good in coverage as he does laying the wood on a receiver. With another off-season of polish and work under Bennie Wylie it's not a stretch to say Vaccaro is one of a handful of safeties with All-American potential entering 2012. He can do it all from roaming around in the defensive backfield to blitzing the quarterback from the nickel spot, and you can bet Manny Diaz will utilize all of his senior's talents this fall.

http://texas.247sports.com/Article/The-Big-12s-Best-Defensive-backs-75104