Power Ranking College Football's Top 12 Defensive Players

College football continues to be driven by high-powered offense, with 15 schools scoring at least 40 points per game and 17 averaging more than 500 yards. It's to the point where we expect teams to score almost every time they have the ball, and when they don't it's usually because of poor execution rather than strong defense.

Then we have a game like Saturday night's clash between Clemson and Notre Dame, when the host Tigers came up with a huge defensive stop in the final seconds by thwarting Notre Dame's two-point conversion attempt.

Believe it or not, there are plenty of great defensive players in college. If not, stars from that side of the ball wouldn't have accounted for 15 of the 32 first-round picks in the 2015 NFL draft.

Through five weeks of the 2015 season, several defenders have stood out from the pack with their individual play. We've ranked the top 12, factoring in their statistics as well as their tendency to be involved in the big stops in key moments.

Honorable Mention: Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia

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When putting together this list we limited it to players who have been involved in at least 75 percent of their team's games as well as those who are expected to be key performers for the remainder of the season. Otherwise, West Virginia safety Karl Joseph would have been a lock for one of the top spots, if not No. 1.

However, Joseph's 2015 season—and most likely his college career—is over after the senior suffered a knee injury on Tuesday during practice.

"I am devastated and heartbroken for Karl," Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen said in a statement, per Craig Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "He is a young man who has given everything he has to our football program and university over the past four years."

Joseph was tied for the FBS lead with five interceptions, snagging three in one quarter in West Virginia's season-opening 44-0 win over Georgia Southern.

12. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, Tennessee

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For as disappointing as Tennessee's season has been to this point, this hasn't prevented Jalen Reeves-Maybin from having a monster season.

The 6'0", 225-pound junior leads the Volunteers with 51 tackles, three sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss along with two pass breakups and a forced fumble. In Tennessee's double-overtime loss to Oklahoma, Reeves-Maybin had a career-high 21 tackles that his online bio says is the most by any FBS player this season and the most for a Vol since A.J. Johnson in 2012.

11. Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Oklahoma State

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Oklahoma State leads the nation in sacks and tackles for loss, which somewhat lessens the impact Emmanuel Ogbah has made from an individual standpoint. On most teams, having a 6'4", 275-pound defensive end with six sacks and 10 TFLs after five games would really stand out, though fellow linemen Jimmy Bean and Vincent Taylor have also been huge up front for the Cowboys.

It's Ogbah, though, that is routinely going up against opponents' best offensive tackle, and the junior is improving as each game progresses.

Of his eight quarterback hurries, per CFBStats.com, six came in OK State's first two games. In the three games since he's had four sacks and 6.5 TFLs, with 5.5 in the past two wins that have come by a combined five points.

10. Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson

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Clemson's defense was supposed to take some time to get situated this season after losing several standouts from last year's top-rated unit. Shaq Lawson decided it wasn't necessary for the Tigers' young defensive unit to come along slowly.

Lawson, a 6'3", 270-pound junior, already has 8.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks among his 20 tackles in 2015. He'd have more if blockers didn't go to great lengths to keep him from getting to the quarterback or ball-carrier, like when Notre Dame's Ronnie Stanley tackled Lawson after getting beat on a spin move.

Lawson still ended up with 3.5 tackles for loss in that game, and when Notre Dame went for a two-point conversion with seven seconds left it ran the play as far from Lawson's side of the line as possible.

9. Nate Meier, DE, Iowa

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Iowa is 5-0 for the first time since 2009, and though an improved offense has been integral to that start, the defense remains a constant source of productive play. Nate Meier is ensuring that by leading one of the top sack units in the country.

The 6'2", 252-pound defensive end has five sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss among his 30 takedowns, with the sack and TFL numbers already topping what he did as a full-time starter in 2014. Combined with tackle Drew Ott (four sacks), Meier is why Iowa ranks in the top 20 nationally in scoring and total defense and is a real player in the Big Ten West Division.

8. Blake Martinez, LB, Stanford

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The national leader in tackles, with 63, Blake Martinez has brought down at least 10 opposing players in every game this season. That includes 13 last week in a blowout win over Arizona, his hometown team and the one that never offered him a scholarship.

"I was not recruited by (then-coach) Mike Stoops and the main reason was, he said I wasn't good enough," Martinez told Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News prior to last week's game.

Martinez, a 6'2", 245-pound senior, should top last year's tally of 101 tackles by November. He'll also look to add to his career total of five interceptions, including one this season against UCF.

7. Kentrell Brothers, LB, Missouri

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Missouri's reign as SEC East Division champions the past two seasons was built on tremendous defense, particularly from its defensive line. A push for a third straight division title will rely on similar effort up front, though this season the Tigers are getting an additional push from the linebacker corps led by Kentrell Brothers.

Brothers led Mizzou with 122 tackles in 2014, and he's well on his way toward repeating that feat with 59 through five games. His 11.8 tackles per game are fourth-best in FBS.

The 6'1", 236-pound senior also has two interceptions that he recorded in the Tigers' 27-20 win at Arkansas State in Week 2, both in the fourth quarter.

6. Steven Taylor, LB, Houston

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Houston is off to a 4-0 start under first-year coach Tom Herman, paced by an explosive offense that is scoring 45.8 points per game and gaining more than 600 per contest. As impressive as that has been, the Cougars have also been effective on defense thanks to Steven Taylor.

The 6'1", 225-pound junior linebacker has five sacks, eight tackles for loss and 33 tackles this season, but his biggest play came on special teams in Houston's most notable victory. Leading 34-31 at Louisville with 54 seconds left, Taylor blocked a 53-yard field-goal attempt to preserve the road win.

Taylor is coming off a huge performance in the Cougars' last game, a 38-24 win at Tulsa, when he had 16 tackles, four TFL and three sacks.

5. Jeremy Cash, S, Duke

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Playing in the secondary isn't just about intercepting passes and disrupting receivers, it also involves stopping the run and impacting the game at the line of scrimmage. Jeremy Cash has shown this throughout his Duke career, with 29.5 tackles for loss and nine forced fumbles to go with six interceptions.

This season the senior is leading the Blue Devils in tackles (42) and TFL (9.5) along with 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Two of those strips came in a 34-20 win over Georgia Tech when the Blue Devils stuffed one of the best rushing attacks in the country.

Duke is allowing 10.6 points and 269.8 yards per game and is 4-1 for the second year in a row.

4. Anthony Walker, LB, Northwestern

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Northwestern leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing seven points per game. It has posted two shutouts, most recently against Minnesota to open Big Ten play, and held a suddenly unstoppable Stanford offense to six points in the season opener.

Now quick, name a defensive player on the Wildcats.

Anthony Walker had a solid freshman year, with 51 tackles and nine tackles for loss with seven starts, but this season he's become the Wildcats' defensive leader in the middle. He has 44 tackles, 8.5 TFLs, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries, one he returned for a 13-yard touchdown last week against Minnesota.

With the Wildcats set to visit Michigan and its No. 2-rated defense, big stops are going to be key for both teams. Walker gets a chance to shine on a major stage.

3. Carl Nassib, DE, Penn State

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The lean toward offensive interest in college football is no more evident than at Penn State, where the majority of the discussion regarding the Nittany Lions this season has focused on the play of quarterback Christian Hackenberg and the run game. It's almost as if their defense has had nothing to do with a 4-1 start.

But if not for that defense, Penn State wouldn't be anywhere close to the team it is at this point. And Carl Nassib is the man leading that charge, ranking second in FBS with eight sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

The 6'7", 272-pound senior also has an interception and has forced three fumbles, and he's anchored a front line that's enabled the Lions to overcome having the No. 117-ranked offense in the country.

2. Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M

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Myles Garrett set the SEC freshman sack record last season, and he's well on his way to establishing more marks as a sophomore.

The 6'5", 262-pound defensive end already has 7.5 sacks, which ranks third in the nation, and unlike last year when most of his 11.5 sacks came against lesser competition, he had two in the Aggies' season-opening win over Arizona State and one each against Arkansas and Mississippi State.

In the overtime win against Arkansas, he stripped Razorbacks quarterback Brandon Allen late in the fourth quarter. A&M recovered the fumble but missed a field goal that would have won the game in regulation.

Garrett is reaping the benefits of both a new coordinator in John Chavis and big contributions from other defensive linemen around him. Chavis worked wonders at LSU and he's already making an impact with A&M, getting Garrett into better situations to thrive by unleashing junior defensive end Daeshon Hall and freshman defensive tackle Daylon Mack up the middle.

1. Joe Schobert, LB, Wisconsin

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The top spot on our list belongs to the FBS leader in both sacks and tackles for loss. Wisconsin senior Joe Schobert entered this season with four sacks and 16 TFLs for his career, numbers he's likely to obliterate in this year alone.

Through five games, the 6'2", 236-pound linebacker has nine sacks and 13 TFL among his 36 sacks, and he's also tied for the national lead with four forced fumbles.

"Many still don't know this name, although that should change soon," Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer wrote. "Perhaps as soon as Week 6 against Nebraska."

The former Wisconsin Scout Team Player of the Year as a freshman in 2012, Schobert is an integral part of a Badgers defense that is allowing 9.6 points and 278 yards per game.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.