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Former Mizzou star Aldon Smith named NFC Defensive Player of the Month

Aldon Smith is lighting up quarterbacks all over the NFL in his second season out of Missouri.

By Kevin Jeffers
Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Aldon Smith is bringing down the quarterback at an historic rate, racking up 30 sacks in his first 27 games. The former Missouri Tigers standout had nine sacks in November alone (in just three games), and on Thursday was named the NFC's defensive player of the month.

How impressive is Smith's 30 sacks this soon in his career? Reggie White didn't even accomplish the feat. Clearly, the former Mizzou star is making his mark in the league after being drafted 7th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. Smith has three forced fumbles to go along with 16.5 sacks on the season. He got 5.5 of those sacks in a win over the Chicago Bears two weeks ago. He had 14 sacks as a rookie last season.

Smith played only two seasons at Mizzou. He had 11 sacks as a Freshman All-American in 2009 and six sacks as a redshirt sophomore n 2010.