Two of Penn State’s best defensive players have started college football’s award watch list season by appearing on the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Defensive ends [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] and [autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag] were included on the watch list released by the Lott IMPACT Trophy this week.
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is awarded to the nation’s top defensive player based on the award’s core principles of integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community, and tenacity. The award is named in honor of Ronnie Lott, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Carter is making a move from linebacker to defensive end this season and is expected to be a dominant force off the edge this fall. Penn State’s defensive line will feature Dennis-Sutotn on the opposite end, giving the Nittany Lions potentially one of the top defensive end combinations in the Big Ten, if not the nation. Both players have already started receiving potential first-round NFL draft pick projections for 2025.
Penn State has one all-time winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Carl Nassib won the award in 2015. At the time, he was the third Big Ten player to take home the award, joining Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis (2008) and Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt (2010). Other Big Ten winners since Nassib have included Jabrill Peppers of Michigan (2016), Josey Jewell of Iowa (2017), Paddy Fisher of Northwestern (2020), and Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan (2021).
Last season’s winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy was Michigan linebacker Junior Colson.
The Lott IMPACT Trophy match list is typically released well ahead of the rest of the individual college football award watch lists. More watch lists are scheduled to be released beginning in late July as part of the National College Football Awards Association’s calendar. The Lott IMPACT Trophy is not a part of this association.
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Continue to see the full 2024 Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list.