Oregon Ducks Football: Regular-Season Grades for the Defensive Stars

The 2011 college football season is over, and the Oregon Ducks won their third straight conference title and won the Rose Bowl over Wisconsin. 

While the offense gets a ton of credit for Oregon's success, the defense has found ways to come up big in some huge spots and is better than a lot of people give it credit for.

After another good year for the defense, here is a look at some of the defensive standouts and their regular-season grades for 2011. 

Cliff Harris

Coming into the 2011 season, Cliff Harris had a ton of hype surrounding him and was viewed as an All-American both on defense and special teams.

The problem for Harris was that he couldn't get out of the way of his own success. By keeping himself off the field due to non-football issues, Harris was not capable of making the impact most had hoped for.

Eventually the off-field issues became too much, and Harris was kicked off the Oregon football team.

Grade: F

Dion Jordan

Coming into the 2011 season, many believed Oregon's defensive line would struggle with a lack of pressure.

Instead, the Oregon defensive line got stronger as the year went on.

One major part of that pressure was the speed off the corner provided by Dion Jordan. Jordan was a key part of this defense, and that was evident every time he was out with injury issues. 

The Ducks will look for him to continue his growth through the 2012 season. 

Grade: A-

Terrell Turner

On the other side of the defensive line was Terrell Turner. Turner also stepped up and had a terrific year for the Oregon defense. 

In 2011, Turner had 5.5 sacks overall, but he was instrumental in applying pressure to the opposing quarterback and also provided help to the run defense.

Grade: B+

Ricky Heimuli

While Dion Jordan and Terrell Turner were able to provide some pressure to the opposing passing game, Ricky Heimuli was able to help clog up the holes up front against the run game.

Heimuli was a big body that was hard for teams to move, and he was able to disrupt running games enough to make some big stops. 

Grade: B

Michael Clay

In the offseason, the Ducks lost Casey Matthews to the NFL draft, and many wondered how they would replace his leadership and skill. 

Michael Clay did a great job of stepping in this year and providing the Ducks with some playmaking ability at linebacker. Clay had three sacks, two interceptions and a touchdown, and he always seemed to provide the Ducks with energy. 

Grade: B+

John Boyett

Despite taking a step back in production, John Boyett still had an outstanding season for Oregon and its defense.

Playing in the secondary, Boyett did a fantastic job stepping up and providing run support while at the same time being responsible for secondary help.

While he only had one interception, Boyett was a key to the Oregon defense and provided leadership throughout the year.

Grade: A-

Eddie Pleasant

Much like John Boyett, Eddie Pleasant found ways to help the Oregon defense in both the run and pass defense.

Pleasant patrols the secondary well and continuously looks for the game-changing hit. While he may be overly aggressive at certain points, his energy trickles down to the rest of the defense.

Grade: B+