Colorado Buffaloes Midseason Superlatives: Offense

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This one is pretty easy. Landman earned a starting role at inside linebacker in fall camp and has made the most of his opportunity. With his season defensive grade of 88.4, Landman was placed on the Pro Football Focus All-American midseason team. He leads Colorado with 59 total tackles and has recorded six tackles for loss, five third down stops, one forced fumble, and two interceptions.

If not Landman, Mustafa Johnson was going to be the midseason MVP of the defense. The JuCo transfer has stepped in right away and asserted himself as the best defensive linemen on the team. He's tied for second on the team in total tackles at 44 with Rick Gamboa, which is incredible considering that Johnson is a defensive linemen. He's recorded 5.5 sacks as well as two additional tackles for loss. Johnson has the size, speed, and strength to be a top notch defensive lineman for the next couple of years in the Pac-12.

The Buffs' senior nose tackle has made a big jump from 2017 to 2018. His PFF grade jumped from 61.4 last year to 76.7 in 2018. His run defense grade made a huge leap from 63.4 to 81.7. Here's a big credit to his improved conditioning: last season, he played a total of 361 snaps in 11 games. Through six games this season, he's played in 218 snaps, so he's on pace to easily break his snaps from last season. He's already recorded 21 tackles this year compared to 33 tackles last season.

I can't be a complete sunshine pumper in these articles. Someone has to get the biggest disappointment tag unfortunately. According to PFF, Colorado has played 40 different players on defense this season, and Wigley has the lowest grade of all of them at 52.7. He has decent grades in run defense (69.9) and tackling (70.0), but his coverage grade of 49.5 is poor. Teams are completing 75% of their passes on Wigley, and he's given up a team high of 234 receiving yards and two touchdowns.