In the last two weeks, I had the chance to catch up with some Big 12 Conference football players at media day sessions.

I took a random poll two weeks ago in Irving, Texas, for the Big 12 media days, then again on Tuesday in Lawrence for Kansas University’s media day.

The poll question: Who’s the hardest hitter on your own team’s defense?

The question generated interesting responses with vivid recollections of why players chose who they chose. The Big 12 may not be known for defense (Texas was the only conference team ranked in the nation’s top 50 in scoring defense last year), but for today’s sake, our focus will be all on D.

Now introducing the hardest hitters in the Big 12, according to the players who see all the action in practice.

Source #1: Kansas linebacker Angus Quigley

“I don’t know who exactly the hardest hitter is, but you have to look at Stuck (Darrell Stuckey),” Quigley said. “Stuckey’s going everywhere. He’s going a million miles an hour. When Stuck gets there, he gets there.”

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“We all watched the Missouri game (last season). And a lot of games,” Quigley continued. “Stuckey has more energy than anybody on this team. That’s just Darrell. It’ll be 5 in the morning, and Stuckey’s bouncing off the walls. You gotta like a guy like Stuckey. Looking over your shoulder (at linebacker), when you see 25 back there, you know he’s going to give you his all.”

Source #2: Kansas running back Toben Oprurm

“If I had to pick out the hardest hitter, I might have to give that to Angus (Quigley),” Opurum said. “We have different types of drills where we have to pick up blitzes and he came and gave me a hit, and I had a headache for a couple of plays after that. Angus can definitely put a hit on somebody.”

Source #3: Kansas safety Chris Harris

“I’d probably say Arist Wright (linebacker) … (five-second pause) … Oh wait, I’d probably say Steven Johnson (linebacker). Does he not have any votes yet? (laughs) In the spring, he’d always come up and hit someone really hard. There was one time, we were at the goal line and he just came through and hit the tailback so hard. The offense didn’t end up scoring. It was a dive (play) and he just came out of nowhere and hit the running back. He always has some good hits. He has so many that I can’t remember all of them.”

Moving on to Irving, Texas, where other members of the conference offered their opinions:

Source #4: Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy

“Hardest hitter? Man, I would say Quinton Carter (safety) or Ryan Reynolds (linebacker). I’ve been watching Ryan since high school and he can hit. But Quinton Carter, boy … man, there’s some hard hitters.”

Not you?

“Oh no. I don’t hit hard. But I’ll make the tackle, though.” (laughs)

McCoy continued on Carter.

“Did y’all see how he hit (Jeremy) Maclin in Missouri? Gollee! I was like, ‘Man.’ But that’s not the first time he’s hit like that. He hits like that in practice. He knows how to come downhill and hit you.”

Source #5: Missouri defensive lineman Jaron Baston

“Oh, Sean Weatherspoon (linebacker), by far. I remember it was maybe a year, maybe two years ago, his best friend, Kevin Rutland, was on the scout team offense. His best friend, and he knocked him out and messed his hip up for like a week or so.”

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Weatherspoon recalled the incident:

“Kevin Rutland, he was the scout team quarterback the week we were playing (Texas) A&M,” he said. “You know, with Stephen McGee, they ran the option and all that. It was a Wednesday. We didn’t even have on pads down low, we just had pads up top. He ran an option play and I took him out. He almost didn’t get to travel to Texas to see his family. He was a red-shirt, so if you were going to travel, you had to be healthy. But that’s my boy, man, I wouldn’t take him out like that anymore. We’re expecting that guy to make some big plays for us this year.”

Weatherspoon is such a fierce hitter that MU coaches stuck a device in his helmet last year that measured how hard he hit. The scale measured the impact from 1 to 100.

“I hit like 92s and 93s all the time,” Weatherspoon said. “The concussion level was like 95. I guess they had a little pager on, where if I hit that hard, they would just come get me right off the field.”

Source #6: Texas A&M cornerback Trent Hunter

“I’d have to give that to Anthony Lewis (linebacker),” Hunter said. “Him and Jay Tolliver (fullback) went at it over the spring. And I’ve never seen someone get hit like that. I was like, ‘Man, if I’m Jay, I’m tappin’ out. I want to get off the field.’ (laughs)

“It was crazy. We were doing goal line. It was the end of practice. They hand off the ball and all of a sudden, you hear the loudest clap. Everybody starts looking up. Coach (Joe) Kines (defensive coordinator), his biggest thing is, ‘Repeat. Repeat.’ He does it daily. So they do the exact same play and they just collide, and I’ve never seen somebody just fly up there and hit someone like that. Anthony Lewis, he hits harder than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

Source #7: Oklahoma State linebacker Andre Sexton

“Donald Booker (linebacker) or Lucien Antoine (safety) probably,” Sexton said. “I won’t say any names, but one of the young running backs, when he came in and Booker hit him, it seemed like he knocked him out the first play, and every time since that he’s lined up against him, he’s knocked him out. The poor kid’s shell-shocked, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to recover for the rest of his career, honestly. It’s sad. It’s scary, too, watching him hit someone.”

Source #8: Colorado linebacker Jeff Smart

“Probably Marcus (Burton, linebacker),” Smart said. “He had one in the spring, where a big, 250-pound tight end caught the ball and started running down the field with it. Marcus hit him and pushed him and the guy went about 15 yards out of bounds. In the film room, it was pretty impressive.”

Be sure to look for these guys when the season starts in three weeks.

That’s all for now, friends. As always, discuss.