Big 12 Football Position Rankings: Top five pass rushers

Aug 30, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Mario Pender (7) is tackled by Oklahoma State Cowboys defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah (38)at AT&T Stadium. Florida State beat Oklahoma State 37-31. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

In a conference known for passing, the Big 12 pass rushers are vital for a team to have success and these are the five best sack artists in the conference.

The Big 12 Conference is known for producing prolific spread offenses that feature quarterbacks who light up scoreboards like Christmas trees. Those quarterbacks spend their fall Saturdays being chased by some of the best pass-rushers in the nation.

Despite its reputation for offense, the Big 12 has always featured elite pass-rushers. From Brian Orakpo to Von Miller, the conference has consistently churned out defenders who excelled at getting to the quarterback.

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The 2015 season will be no different as a number of defensive players from the conference rank among the national leaders in sacks. Offense will fill the stands, but defense wins championships. While quarterbacks like Trevone Boykin and Mason Rudolph get all the headlines, these defensive players are making the plays that win games.

The spread offense is effective when quarterbacks are throwing short passes in rhythm to skill players in space. The best way to disrupt this offense is to get the quarterback out of rhythm. The best way to do that is to consistently put pressure on the quarterback.

You can pressure the quarterback by bringing more players on a blitz than the offense can block, or by simply having better players at the point of attack than the opposition.

You cannot win a championship in the Big 12 unless you can consistently stop the opposing offense. In order to contain the offenses in this conference, you need to have an elite pass-rusher. The coaches in the Big 12 know that they need to have defenders that the opposing offense needs to game-plan for, or they will be in a track meet on every Saturday.

This is a look at five players that keep offensive coordinators in the Big 12 awake at night. This is a look at the five best pass-rushers in the conference.

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