I don't think he is only a "workout warrior" but the fact remains that
before the combine and workouts he was viewed as a 3rd/4th Rd type of player and now people are saying he is a late 1st. There is a surprise factor as well with ooponents this past year, I'm sure they would have adjusted to Barwin's speed this upcoming season and schemed for him. He is going to be a good pro, no doubt in my mind, but the draft is not only about acquiring players but doing so in the right spot, value, and I don't think you can draft a player who isn't going to be a starter or contribute very regularly on offense or base defense in Rd 1 and early Rd 2. But with three 2nd Rd picks maybe the Pats can afford to draft a player like Barwin early and play him as strictly a rusher on pass sets and on STs. I think what you don't want to do with this kid is confuse him in year 1 with 1st and 2nd Rd OLB responsibilities in the Pats scheme.
When you talk about level of competition, for fairness purposes, you should look at whom Barwin's sacks game against: 2 vs Eastern Kentucky, 1 vs Miami (OH), 1 vs Marshall, 2 vs Rutgers, 2 vs Pittsburgh and 1 vs Hawai, he was shut out vs Oklahoma, Akron, Connecticut, South Florida, Louisville, West Virginia and Syracuse. Granted that sacks aren't the only meaningful stat and don't really measure the true value of a player's worth to a team but people bring up sacks and level of competition when comparing Enlgish to any other OLB prospect.
Here are English's stats:
Larry English Stats, News, Photos - Northern Illinois Huskies - NCAA College Football - ESPN