INDIANAPOLIS—
Before the season, Indiana University's two best defensive lineman often took some time do to a little bit of reading on their own program's history.They didn't specify where they took a look at the Hoosiers' football record books, but Jammie Kirlew made it known that he and Greg Middleton knew their contents.
"We used to always look in the record book and we would always say we want to try to beat some of these records try to tie some of these records," said Kirlew of their little reading on the side.
After a while, though, a constant revisiting of the material would give these player another mission other than rewriting it.
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"We just look at all the history we have with 'D' ends in front of us and we know how well they did at IU and be able to be successful at the next level," said Kirlew, and the list as of late has been impressive.
There is Adawale Ogunleye, who recorded 34 sacks during his time in Bloomington and has now racked up ten seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Chicago Bears. Kemp Rasmussen enjoyed some time in the league following his standout career at Indiana which ended in 2001.
Victor Adeyanju followed him in the line of solid defensive ends, as his 13.5 sacks from 2002-2004 for Indiana caught the attention of St. Louis, who took him in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and has spent the last four seasons with the Rams.
"That's definitely motivation to get to this level and be competitive and try to be No. 1 in everything," said Middleton of following the tradition, and now he begins the second step of that journey.
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Middleton right now is projected to go between the fifth and seventh rounds in the draft and is willing to play either the tackle or end position on the defensive line. Some might have thought of the Pike High School graduate as a potential first round draft pick when he recorded 16 sacks in 2007, breaking a school record in helping the Hoosiers to an Insight Bowl birth.
He fell off in 2008, recording just three sacks and 14 tackles while jumping in and out of the starting lineup, but managed to recover with a respectable senior senior season by recording 8.5 tackles for loss including four sacks.
"Scouts have asked me that too," said Middleton on his drop off in sacks from his sophomore year. "They gave me some remedies to go back and look at the film that I produced that year, so I'm still working on that.
"I know whatever team I go to they'll coach me up and get me back to that."
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Kirlew's breakout season came in 2008, when he had 19.5 tackle for loss including 10.5 sacks to thrust himself into the 2010 NFL Draft talk. A senior season in which he collected 15.5 tackle for loss and 6.5 sacks along with five forced fumbles has experts picking Kirlew to be a third round selection.
His workouts will be later in the combine and during them Kirlew hopes to show his versatility to potential employers.
"I definitely think I'm a guy that's going to be seen as a 'tweener' (Play both tackle and end), its gonna be having my hand down in the 4-3 or standing up as an outside linebacker in the 3-4," said Kirlew of his possible NFL positions. "That's why its important for me to be able to show my athleticism."
