36) Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas
Take a look at Jeffcoat's numbers, and they appear to be pretty strong for a true freshman. But perhaps the best way to look at it would be to multiply them out over a full season — Jeffcoat missed four games with an ankle injury.
Those adjusted numbers would look like this: 23 tackles, nine tackles for loss and four sacks. Hmmm. Now we're getting somewhere. It says something big when a defensive end is able to come into a program like Texas an immediately emerge as one of the school's top pass rushers. That's exactly what Jeffcoat did out of Plano West.
Blessed with a great frame at 6-foot-5, and holding more than 250 pounds easily, Jeffcoat already has the technique of a grizzled veteran, technique that he used to put up five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in the first four games of his college career. In his fifth game, he had a sack and strip of Oklahoma's Landry Jones that was negated due to a teammate being offsides.
Two weeks later, Jeffcoat began his run on missed time, and he didn't come back until he notched a tackle for loss against Florida Atlantic in the second-to-last game of the season.
He accomplished all of that despite earning just two starts behind veterans Sam Acho and Eddie Jones. With a likely starting spot for 2011, and a clean bill of health, the sky is the limit for Texas' talented sophomore end.
2010 Stats: 15 tackles, six tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one pass broken up, one fumble recovery, seven quarterback hurries
No. 37: Kansas State DB David Garrett
No. 38: Oklahoma OL Gabe Ikard
No. 39: Texas Tech RB Eric Stephens
No. 40: Baylor OL Philip Blake
No. 41: Missouri LB Zaviar Gooden
No. 42: Texas DL Alex Okafor
No. 43: Texas A&M DL Tony Jerod-Eddie
No. 44: Kansas RB James Sims
No. 45: Texas Tech S Cody Davis
No. 46: Iowa State CB Leonard Johnson
No. 47: Kansas State S Ty Zimmerman
No. 48: Baylor DE/LB Tevin Elliot
No. 49: Kansas State DE Brandon Harold
No. 50: Kansas DE Toben Opurum