Breakout player of 2011

[HandoEX]

I thought a breakout player is someone that burst onto the scene, not someone that has been successful prior to this year.

Williams, HOlloway, Willson and the like are not breakout players. They were badasses last season.

Also surprised to see Jirik on this list. He didn't start and the guy that started ahead of him is a converted linebacker and a freshman that no one saw playing the way he did.

[KSBisonFan]

Jensen took the biggest leap over expectations and showed accuracy,poise and maturity none of us imagined. He also showed he's a gamer taking some vicious hits (Championship game) and playing through illness. He set the bar to a point where we won't be wondering about our QB position for a couple years. Talk about a luxury.

Marcus 2nd. He set the tone early as a shutdown corner and someone the opponent tried to avoid. He allowed the rest of our defense to play like a bunch of animals knowing they had Marcus deep. Again, the cornerstone of a secondary that is an embarrassment of talent in the coming years.

Difficult to pick an individual on a TEAM that played every aspect of the game as a TEAM.

[mebisonII]

Cool thing about this team is that it really was all about the team. If someone asked you "Who is the big all-star that carries your team?" You'd be hard pressed to name just one (or even two or three or four) name. Some games it was Williams making the game-changing picks, other times it was Smith with a nice grab or run-back, another time it was Ojuri pounding away on their lines, or Voit making the fake-punt decision at exactly the right time as well as saying, "you want field position? how about the 3 yard line, will that work for you?". And the list could go on and on.

Did any of our players really made the short list for the big, FCS-wide individual awards (Buchanan, etc?). That might be a sign that they were unfairly overlooked, but its also a sign that the load of this season and post-season was carried across the entire roster.

[westnodak93bison]

imho, breakout means kind of came out of no where. I'd say that has to be Travis Beck. All the others mentioned on the list played prior and at times well or very well.
If anybody would have said last spring that Beck would be starting in the NC game and have a big time pick you would have said huh?

[Kermit]

Also surprised to see Jirik on this list. He didn't start and the guy that started ahead of him is a converted linebacker and a freshman that no one saw playing the way he did.

Hando, I agree that Emmanuel is an absolute stud. I think the staff knew what they had in him, even if the fans didn't. As an aside, I think Emmanuel and Jirik split time pretty evenly. In fact, there were several games where Emmanuel was listed as the starter, but Jirik actually played the first series.

[Strommer10]

It's really fun to see people list about 20 names that had breakout seasons. That is truly why this TEAM won the National Championship. Kudos to everyone that was a part of it. I can't pick just one, too many great players stepped up when needed. WE'RE #1!!!!!!

[NorthernBison]

imho, breakout means kind of came out of no where. I'd say that has to be Travis Beck. All the others mentioned on the list played prior and at times well or very well.
If anybody would have said last spring that Beck would be starting in the NC game and have a big time pick you would have said huh?

I said to watch Beck when he signed his letter of intent. I also said he would see the field A LOT when people were questioning his starting with the #1 offense during the recent Spring game. I love the fact that he just plays the game with very little of the "look at me" crap that gets a lot of attention from some fans.

He is my pick for breakout player. He was on very few fan's radar at the beginning of the season and look where he ended up.

[17>1]

I understand the term breakout, but can look at it from another angle. Certain players needed to have big years for the team to be more successful than last year. Holloway needed to have the best season of his career. He did just that. Drevlow and Leevon needed to lock down the middle of our D line. They did just that. Jensen, nuff said. That's why I mentioned those 3. OTOH, Beck and Smith arrived on the scene in breakout fashion.

[HerdBot]

Many fit the bill. Drevlow , Jirik , Beck , Gimmestad , Smith , Ojuri , Brock ... many guys really stepped up for 1st time players with extensive roles like Littlejohn, Juckem , and Emmanual . Didn't lose much when Grant Olson stepped in. Then again Willson and Pike regained my faith in Jucos . I can't believe they were as good as they were. Unbelievable. The best TEAM no doubt . That's a whopping 13 guys I named and I probably missed someone. . 11 are returning

[HerdBot]

Hando, I agree that Emmanuel is an absolute stud. I think the staff knew what they had in him, even if the fans didn't. As an aside, I think Emmanuel and Jirik split time pretty evenly. In fact, there were several games where Emmanuel was listed as the starter, but Jirik actually played the first series.

Jirik was the backup to Boyer to start the year but ended up starting when Emmanual was hurt and was probably the best linen on the team during the playoffs. Interested to see if he replaces Boyer and Emmanual stays at RDE .