2014 NFL Mock Draft: The Ultimate 8 Part 3 (21-28)

Oct 25, 2013; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars linebacker Kyle Van Noy (3) rushes during the second half against the Boise State Broncos at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Brigham Young won 37-20. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Overall Player Evaluation
From the outset of the season, many were predicting Kyle Van Noy to have an amazing junior season and as predicted, he did. But in order for us to understand the entire story, we need to go back to the beginning when Van Noy was first making his start as a BYU Cougar. As a grad of McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada, Van Noy was known not only as an offensive and defensive player in football, but also a track star. During his time at McQueen High, Van Noy was an all-conference and all-area selection as a sophomore and was also an all-league performer in track (4×100, 4×200 and 4×400) to go along with his awesome statistics as a football linebacker and receiver. According to BYU’s website, Van Noy helped McQueen to a “14-0 record and the 4A state championship. He had 35 receptions for 731 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also finished with 79 total tackles (55 solos) and 14 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, six fumbles caused, four fumbles recovered and one interception for a score. He even rushed the ball 10 times for another 121 yards,” all during his senior year. Considering that Van Noy did record 14 sacks and six forced fumbles, one would expect he would have been highly recruited for a prestigious college such as BYU.

As a freshman linebacker, Van Noy impressed early on, recording 36 total tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss even though he only started two games all season. The very next fall for Van Noy would see yet another productive year for the 6-3, 235-pound linebacker out of Nevada. In 2011, Van Noy was able to register 68 total tackles, 15.0 tackles for loss and an impressive 10 QB hurries and six sacks. In the end he was named to the Phil Steele, Yahoo! Sports and FBS All-Independent Team in 2011. What was even more impressive was that Van Noy was the only player in the country to record a stat in every single one of these categories: tackle, tackle for loss, sack, interception, pass breakup, quarterback hurry, fumble recovery, forced fumble, blocked kick and touchdown. And although his junior season featured less tackles than in his sophomore season, Van Noy was just as dominating on the gridiron.

In 2012, Van Noy posted his most impressive season of his entire college career, recording 52 total tackles, an amazing 22.0 tackles for loss, 13.0 sacks, two interceptions, two blocked kicks and six forced fumbles.At the end of the season, Van Noy was voted to the CBSSports.com All-Bowl team (for his incredible Poinsettia Bowl performance where Van Noy recorded 1.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and two defensive touchdowns), a CFPA National Defensive Player of the Year, AP All-America Third Team, SI.com Honorable Mention, CBSSports.com Second Team, Phil Steele Third Team, College Sports Madness Third Team and to the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Bednarik Award Watch Lists. Taking into perspective those unbelievable stats and awards, it still irks me that Van Noy didn’t go to the NFL Draft earlier. I respect his decision to stay in school and graduate (believe me), however if he is looking for a high draft status, typically you want to get out of college on a high note. Regardless though, Van Noy’s senior season at BYU (if anything), only solidified his high draft status and gave NFL scouts a reason to go to Utah to recruit. As a senior the former Nevada-native was able to throw down 70 total tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, only four sacks, but at the same time he was able to record 12 QB hits and seven passes defended (both career highs). Because of his outstanding play during his senior year, Van Noy was nominated to the mother lode of off-season nominations. According to BYU’s team site, in the 2013 off-season, Van Noy was either named to four All-America teams: Walter Camp Second Team, Athlon Sports Third Team, CBSSports.com Third Team and Sport and SI.com Honorable Mention, FBS All-Indendent First Team, FBS Independent Defensive Player of the Year, SB Nation Independent Defensive Player of the Year, Chuck Bednarik Award semifinalist, Butkus Award semifinalist, Lott IMPACT Trophy semifinalist, Senior CLASS Award Finalist, Lombardi Award semifinalist, Named Independent Defensive Player of the Year by College Sports Madness, first-team All-Independent honors by College Sports Madness for the third consecutive year, midseason All-America First Team recognition from Yahoo! Sports, Phil Steele, SportsIllustrated.com, NFL.com and CBSSports.com, second in voting for midseason Defensive Player of the Year (CBSSports.com), FBS Independent Defensive Player of the Week (9/29, 10/7), CFPA National Linebacker of the Week (10/7) and Chuck Bednarik Player of the Week (10/17). Yeah, all of those awards and nominations all in one season.

Overall Van Noy is an absolutely outstanding football player, his 6-3, 243-pound build and 4.71 40-yard dash time can attest to that. However, it is Van Noy’s football instincts and reaction abilities that make him such an awesome draft choice for the New Orleans Saints. He has the capability of going back in pass coverage (which he does very well), or rushing the passer and sneaking by offensive lineman for a tackle for loss or sack. This Saints’ ball club already has plenty of proven leaders on defense, thus Van Noy would fit right into Sean Peyton’s scheme perfectly, bringing his youthful athleticism while getting some veteran advice and pointers from the game’s very best.

Why He Fits in with the Saints
Last season the Saints season ended in the cold and rainy frontier of the great northwest in a 23-15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Saints running offense and defense (or lack thereof), was one of the Saints’ major problems last season. On the defensive side of the ball, the Saints allowed opposing backs to rush for 111.6 rushing yards per game (ranked 19th in the NFL) along with 10 rushing touchdowns. For the most part the Saints didn’t allow that many rushing yards or rushing touchdowns, however those 10 rushing touchdowns (and 140 yards and two touchdowns given up to Marshawn Lynch in the divisional round of the playoffs), could have been the difference between winning the Super Bowl or losing in the divisional round of the playoffs. Van Noy has exhibited that he can surely ball, especially against big name teams such as Georgia Tech, Wisconsin and Washington. With his combination of pass defending and run stopping, there is honestly nothing that Van Noy cannot do at the line backing position.