Stat of the Week

You think it's tough to pick a quarterback out of college football who will succeed in the NFL? I say it's harder to pick a pass-rusher. And when I talk to coaches and personnel people around the league, it's maddening to them to try to figure out if Derrick Morgan or Jason Pierre-Paul -- or maybe Sergio Kindle, if he goes to a 4-3 team and plays end -- will be productive rushing the quarterback.

A look at the nine defensive ends picked in the first two rounds of the 2009 draft shows that only one rushed the passer at a big-league level as a rookie. That was Brian Orakpo, the 13th overall pick, by Washington. He had 11 sacks and was getting some double-teams by the end of the season. Here are the other eight college defensive ends (one exception -- Connor Barwin was a jack-of-all-trades at Cincinnati) and how they fared rushing the passer as rookies:

Defensive Proficiency For 2009 Draft Picks
Player Team '09 Overall Pick Games Sacks
*Tyson Jackson Chiefs 3 16 0
Aaron Maybin Bills 11 16 0
Larry English Chargers 16 16 2
Robert Ayers Broncos 18 15 0
Everette Brown Panthers 43 15 2.5
Connor Barwin Texans 46 16 4.5
Paul Kruger Ravens 57 9 0
**Cody Brown Cardinals -- -- --
-- -- -- Total: 103 9