Who are the 25 best college football players of the 2000s? With 23 seasons of data there is stiff competition, but two Wisconsin Badgers greats cracked the top 25 created by ESPN’s Bill Connelly.
Checking in at No. 12 on the list is former Badgers left tackle Joe Thomas, while running back Jonathan Taylor rounded out the list at No. 25. The top10 featured Ndamukong Suh, Baker Mayfield, Cam Newton, Vince Young, Ed Reed, Tim Tebow, Reggie Bush, Bryant McKinnie, Joe Burrow and Larry Fitzgerald.
“Even though almost no one in the sport has produced as many road-grading linemen as Wisconsin over the last 30 or so years, Thomas stands out among all those awesome Badgers,” Connelly wrote about Thomas, who starred for the Badgerrs from 2003 to 2006. “Oh yeah, and then he did it all over again in the pros, earning All-Pro honors eight times in 11 years and reaching the Hall of Fame there too.”
On Taylor, Connelly wrote: “A two-time, 2,000-yard rusher, Taylor was an inevitable presence. He rushed for 223 yards in his second career game, he carried the ball at least 18 times in 35 games, he rushed for at least 100 yards on 32 occasions, and he topped 200 yards 12 times. And in a triple-overtime win over Purdue in 2018, he painted his masterpiece: 33 carries, 321 yards and 3 touchdowns, including an 80-yarder and the game-winner.”
The only other Big Ten connections on the list at Suh at No. 1, though he played at Nebraska when the Cornhuskers were still in the Big 12, and Burrow at No. 9, though his college football fame came after he transferred from Ohio State to LSU.
Source link : https://www.si.com/college/wisconsin/football/wisconsin-lands-two-on-list-of-25-best-college-football-players-since-2000-01j41vk0qhh7
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Publish date : 2024-07-30 09:11:33
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