ChiefsPlanet - kcchiefs.com: Access Arrowhead's 2005 NFL Draft Preview

Darryl Blackstock
Virginia — 6-4, 241

Blackstock began his collegiate career at Fork Union Military Academy in 2001, where he registered 22 sacks. He transferred to Virginia in 2002 and moved into the starting lineup at weakside linebacker in the team’s second game. Blackstock was named College Football News National Defensive Freshman of the Year as he set school freshman single-season records with 10 sacks and 14 stops for losses. That was part of a career-high 107 tackles (66 solo) with 20 pressures, an interception and four pass deflections.

Blackstock picked up All-Atlantic Coast Conference honorable mention honors in 2003. He started every game, but his production dropped some with 85 tackles (50 solo), six sacks, 14_ stops behind the line of scrimmage, 23 pressures and two fumble recoveries. In 2004, he followed with second-team All-ACC honors, ranking seventh in the nation with 11 sacks. His production continued to drop as he managed only 43 tackles (27 solo), but 14 of those hits were for losses.

In 39 Cavalier games, Blackstock started 38 times. He recorded 237 tackles (143 solo) with 27 sacks for minus-146 yards, 42_ stops for losses of 199 yards and 46 quarterback pressures. His 27 career sacks are an Atlantic Coast Conference career record for a linebacker. Only Chris Slade (40, 1989-92) produced more at Virginia. His 42_ stops behind the line of scrimmage are topped only by Slade (56) and Mike Frederick (50, 1991-94) in Cavaliers history. He also recovered four fumbles, caused two others, intercepted a pass and deflected eight others.

Derrick Johnson
Texas — 6-3, 234

Picked as the top outside linebacker in college football by The Sporting News before the 2004 season, Derrick Johnson lived up to his billing. The aggressive, speedy and explosive linebacker established himself as one of the nation’s premier defensive players. He earned the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player and the Butkus Award (nation’s top LB).

Johnson was a finalist for the Bednarik Award (nation’s top defensive player), the Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman) and the Lott Trophy (defensive player of the year) as a senior. He was the only defensive player among the 10 finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and earned unanimous first-team All-American accolades. He was also a unanimous selection as the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

A national Freshman of the Year pick by The Sporting News and Big 12 Conference Freshman co-Defensive Player of the Year, Johnson ended his collegiate career with several other national honors in 2004. He became the Texas first player since Tommy Nobis (1964-65) to earn back-to-back All-American honors. He led the team with a career-high 130 tackles (73 solo) with two sacks, 19 stops for losses, 10 pressures, nine forced fumbles (broke the NCAA season-record held by Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney in 2001 and Boise State’s Quintin Mikell in 2002), eight pass deflections and an interception.

Johnson concluded his Longhorns career with 40 starts in 50 games. He recorded 458 tackles (281 solo) with 10_ sacks for minus-58 yards, 65 stops for losses of 170 yards and 39 quarterback pressures. His 65 stops behind the line of scrimmage broke the Texas career record of 60 by Kiki DeAyala (1979-82). Johnson added five fumble recoveries, 11 forced fumbles, nine interceptions for 195 yards in returns (one for a touchdown), 30 pass deflections and a blocked kick during his time with the Longhorns.

Johnson is humble despite all of the recent awards and accolades. He is active in UT’s community service program and serves as a mentor at local elementary schools. He recently graduated in the top third of his senior class and is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, mentoring the younger players on the team.

Barrett Ruud
Nebraska — 6-1, 242

Ruud is a very intelligent athlete who garnered several conference and school academic awards as he attained a 3.33 grade point average in Business Management. He followed his father, Tom (1972-74) to the Husker football program. Tom Ruud was an All-Big Eight linebacker for the Huskers and earned academic all-conference honors two years. He was a first-round draft pick in 1975 by Buffalo and played three years for the Bills (1975-77) and two years for the Cincinnati Bengals (1978-79).

Barrett earned Freshman All-American second-team honors from The Sporting News as a true freshman in 2001, recording 49 tackles (17 solos) with six stops for losses. He started every game at middle linebacker in 2002, ranking second on the team with 91 tackles (36 solos), including a pair of sacks, 13 quarterback pressures, 12 stops for losses and a pair of forced fumbles.

The All-Big Twelve Conference second-team pick in 2003 registered 149 tackles (78 solos) with 14 stops behind the line of scrimmage, 11 pressures, three fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles. He topped the old Husker single-season record of 141 tackles by Lee Kunz in 1977. He followed that with an All-American season as he collected 143 tackles (86 solos) with three sacks, 18 stops for losses and four pressures as a senior. In his final 24 games, Barrett recorded at least 10 tackles 18 times.

His 432 career tackles (217 solos) broke the previous school career-record of 342 by Jerry Murtaugh (1968-70) and his 50 stops behind the line of scrimmage are topped only by Grant Wistrom’s 58.5 on Nebraska’s all-time record list. Ruud started 37 of 50 contests at Nebraska, adding eight sacks for minus-48 yards, 29 quarterback pressures, three fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles, 13 pass deflections and an interception.

Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan recently said of Ruud, “I can see why he makes the tackles he does because he’s well-prepared. He’s into the game, and he loves football. You see him work and function on the field, and you see a desire to make a play. He has the ability to diagnose a play, an offense, and a blocking scheme. He knows where he fits. He knows how to play off other players, and he’s relentless. Even if he’s not there, he’s going to chase the ball, and he’s going to get there. To me, that’s one of the outstanding attributes of his play.”