Malik Hooker should have won Big 10 defensive player of the year
He is the best safety in the nation
If you watched Ohio State’s dramatic double overtime victory over Michigan on Saturday, you probably noticed number 24 making incredible plays on defense. That player was Malik Hooker.
Through the 2016 season, the ball-hawk has accumulated six interceptions– returning three of them for touchdowns–not to mention a fourth pick six that was called back due to a penalty on the return. To put that in perspective, Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers only has one career interception (conveniently against Ohio State on Saturday) and four touchdowns on the season. This is our Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year.
It should be noted that Peppers scored three of his four touchdowns while playing offense, and two were against an abysmal Rutgers team. The other offensive touchdown came from a punt return. None truly came from the defensive side of the ball. With this in mind, it is safe to say that Hooker was the best safety on the field on Saturday.
Most mock drafts have Hooker being selected within the first 10 picks of the draft, and he has even drawn some comparison to former NFL great Ed Reed. If all of this is true, then the question remains: why is Hooker relatively unknown to college football fans? How can the best defensive back and the top NFL prospect for the No. 2 team in the nation not even be named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award (given to the best defensive back) when his stats are better than those who were nominated?
USC’s Adoree’ Jackson, LSU’s Tre’Davious White, and Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis who were the finalists for the award have significantly fewer interceptions than Hooker. Lewis and White have two each while Jackson has four. Furthermore, Hooker has had just as many memorable plays this season as the trio. Yes, Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis had an “Odell Beckham-esque” one handed interception against Wisconsin, but lets not forget that Malik Hooker made a similar play early on in the season.
Here are both plays. You can be the judge.
You might think Hooker is liability in the run game, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Hooker can lower the boom–just ask Tommy Armstrong Jr. Hooker’s 67 tackles on the year is the same number that Jabrill Peppers currently has, not to mention this number is still more than any of the three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award.
There is no true explanation why Hooker is grossly underrated, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because while some of these players may take home an award, Hooker will most likely be playing in the College Football Playoff.
After some speculation that Hooker might leave OSU and go into the NFL, Hooker has stated that he intends to return to Columbus next season to continue playing for the Buckeyes. So if you don’t know him yet, you better start.