2020 NAGURSKI TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America, in conjunction with the Charlotte Touchdown Club, released its preseason watch list for the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree today, selecting 98 defensive standouts from 66 schools in all 10 Division I FBS conferences plus independents on a roster that includes five returning players from last season’s FWAA All-America team and one from 2018.

Two of the nation’s returning sack leaders, Miami defensive end Gregory Rousseau and Oregon State linebacker Hamilcar Rashed Jr., headline the list from among the six returning FWAA All-America selections: LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who tied for fifth in the nation with six interceptions last season, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons, Pitt defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman and Stanford cornerback Paulson Adebo, who was on the second team in 2018.

Seven schools are tied with three representatives each, including Pitt, which in addition to Twyman has defensive end Patrick Jones and safety Paris Ford to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 17 players that top the conference totals and hail from 11 of its 14 schools. Defending national champion LSU has defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin and safety JaCoby Stevens in its trio alongside Stingley Jr., and Alabama and Georgia also have three players as part of the Southeastern Conference’s crew of 15. Oregon, USC and Washington also have trios on the list from among the Pac-12’s 13 players that also includes Washington State’s Jahad Woods, fourth in the nation in tackles last season with 141.

There are 18 schools with teammates on the list and 15 players return from last season’s watch list. National runner-up Clemson has defensive tackle Tyler Davis and linebacker James Skalski listed. Penn State has defensive end Shaka Toney in addition to its All-American Parsons, and Miami adds Quincy Roche, a transfer from Temple, to its pairing with All-American Rousseau. Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade and Oklahoma defensive end Ronnie Perkins made the list from last year’s other College Football Playoff teams. Western Michigan linebacker Treshaun Hawyard, the nation’s top returning tackle leader (142), is one of the Mid-American Conference’s five members.

Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. As in previous years, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

The winner of the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree as the National Defensive Player of the Year will be chosen from those five finalists. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.

This year’s watch list includes at least four players from all 10 FBS conferences plus three from the independents. The ACC led the conference list with 17 with the SEC (15) just behind, making up almost one-third of the list. The Pac-12 (13), Big 12 (12) and Big Ten (10) also have double-digit representation, followed by Conference USA (7), the American Athletic (6), Sun Belt (6), Mid-American (5), Mountain West (4) and Independents (3). The list includes 31 linebackers, 28 backs, 23 ends and 16 tackles.

DB Paulson Adebo, Stanford

LB Blaze Alldredge, Rice

LB Rayshard Ashby, Virginia Tech

DE JaQuan Bailey, Iowa State

DE Carlos Basham, Wake Forest

LB Tavante Beckett, Marshall

LB Terrel Bernard, Baylor

DB Reed Blakenship, Middle Tennessee

LB Nick Bolton, Missouri

LB K.J. Britt, Auburn

LB Troy Brown, Central Michigan

DE Big Kat Bryant, Auburn

DB Eric Burrell, Wisconsin

DB Andre Cisco, Syracuse

DT Tyler Davis, Clemson

DE Victor Dimukeje, Duke

DB Greg Eisworth, Iowa State

LB Diego Fagot, Navy

DB Caleb Farley, Virginia Tech

LB Paddy Fisher, Northwestern

DB Paris Ford, Pitt

DB Darrick Forrest, Cincinnati

DE Chauncey Golston, Iowa

DB Richie Grant, UCF

LB Jake Hansen, Illinois

DB Kolby Harvell-Peel, Oklahoma State

LB Treshaun Hayward, Western Michigan

DB Jevon Holland, Oregon

DE Wyatt Hubert, Kansas State

DB Talanoa Hufanga, USC

DE Drake Jackson, USC

DE Tarron Jackson, Coastal Carolina

LB Buddy Johnson, Texas A&M

DE Raymond Johnson III, Georgia Southern

DB Shaun Jolly, Appalachian State

DE Patrick Jones, Pitt

DB Kekaula Kaniho, Boise State

DE George Karlaftis, Purdue

DE Malcolm Koonce, Buffalo

LB Nate Landman, Colorado

DB Richard LeCounte, Georgia

DT Ifeanyi Maijeh, Temple

DE DeAngelo Malone, WKU

LB Carlton Martial, Troy

DB Trevon Moehrig, TCU

DB Elijah Molden, Washington

LB Kristopher Moll, UAB

LB Dylan Moses, Alabama

DB Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State

DT Lorenzo Neal, Purdue

DT Dion Novil, North Texas

DT Levi Onwuzurike, Washington

LB Joseph Ossai, Texas

LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame

LB Micah Parsons, Penn State

DE Kwity Paye, Michigan

DE Ronnie Perkins, Oklahoma

DE Dom Peterson, Nevada

DB Antonio Phillips, Ball State

LB Hamilcar Rashed Jr., Oregon State

DT LaBryan Ray, Alabama

LB Justin Rice, Fresno State

LB Monty Rice, Georgia

LB Max Richardson, Boston College

DE Taylor Riggins, Buffalo

DB Aaron Robinson, UCF

DE Quincy Roche, Miami

DE Gregory Rousseau, Miami

DT Jordon Scott, Oregon

DT Tyler Shelvin, LSU

LB James Skalski, Clemson

DE Jordan Smith, UAB

LB Charles Snowden, Virginia

DB Caden Sterns, Texas

DB JaCoby Stevens, LSU

DT Dante Stills, West Virginia

DT Darius Stills, West Virginia

DB Derek Stingley Jr., LSU

DB Eric Stokes, Georgia

DB Corey Straughter, ULM

LB Chazz Surratt, North Carolina

DB Patrick Surtain II, Alabama

DE Demetrius Taylor, Appalachian State

DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon

DT Cameron Thomas, San Diego State

LB Henry To’o To’o, Tennessee

DE Shaka Toney, Penn State

DT Khyiris Tonga, BYU

LB Joe Tryon, Washington

DT Jay Tufele, USC

DT Jaylen Twyman, Pitt

DB Shaun Wade, Ohio State

LB Garret Wallow, TCU

LB Drew White, Notre Dame

DT Kobie Whiteside, Missouri

DB James Wiggins, Cincinnati

DT Marvin Wilson, Florida State

LB Jahad Woods, Washington State

By conference: ACC 17, SEC 15, Pac-12 13, Big 12 12, Big Ten 10, Conference USA 7, American Athletic 6, Sun Belt 6, Mid-American 5, Mountain West 4, Independents 3.

By position: Linebackers 31, Backs 28, Ends 23, Tackles 16.