25 best college football players not in the College Football Hall of Fame (yet)

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 14: Carson Palmer of the University of Southern California speaks with the press after winning the 68th annual Heisman Trophy Award at The Yale Club December 14, 2002 in New York City. The USC quarterback became the first west coast player win the trophy since 1981. Palmer received 242 first-place votes winning by 233 over second place Iowa quarterback Brad Banks. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) /

21 of 26

Defensive Lineman #49 Julius Peppers of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (Photo by Craig Jones/Getty Images) /

6. Julius Peppers, North Carolina, DE

Julius Peppers is on the ballot for his second year after missing out on getting in last year. His 2001 season is one of the best of this century for a defensive end. He won the Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year award, the Lombardi Award, the Bednarik Award, finished 10th in Heisman voting, was a unanimous All American, and led North Carolina to a Peach Bowl win against Auburn.

Peppers might be the only player in history to win the Lombardi Award and play in the Final Four during March Madness. Peppers was great on the football field, and when he was done with his redshirt freshman season (where he had six sacks and ten tackles for loss), he walked on the North Carolina basketball team. He was great off the bench as a presence underneath.

However, this is about his football prowess. Peppers was downright scary on the defensive line. He had 15 sacks (one shy of Lawrence Taylor’s school record) and 24 tackles for loss. No offensive lineman could stop Peppers by themselves. Even double teams weren’t good enough to stop him. Despite playing for a middling North Carolina team, Peppers was still considered one of the best players in the country.

During his junior season, the book was out on Peppers, and teams would dedicate two and sometimes three players to stopping him. It still didn’t work. He was always making gigantic plays against big opponents. He had an interception for a touchdown against Oklahoma. He sacked David Garrard with East Carolina to cause a game-saving turnover. He did the same thing against Philip Rivers and NC State one week prior. While facing then-sixth ranked Florida State, he had five tackles for loss and an interception. Against Clemson, he dominated again in what ended up being a rout. He finished the season with 63 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, three interceptions, and nine passes deflected. No matter what teams threw at Peppers, he was unstoppable.

Home/College Football