Tag: Bednarik Award

Alabama LB Will Anderson jr. snubbed from multiple CFB awards, fans bring the heat

These fans point out how dominant Will Anderson has been compared to other high-profile defensive players.

Alabama sophomore linebacker Will Anderson jr. has been one of the brightest players on this 2021 team. He’s not only an amazing player on the field that puts up amazing stats every time he suits up, but he’s a young leader that players have rallied around.

The defensive leader for the Crimson Tide tallied some impressive numbers in the 2021 college football regular season. He’s totaled 85 tackles, 14.5 sacks and even managed to accumulate two pass deflections.

Recently, various college football individual awards released their respective finalists lists. Anderson’s name was not on some of them, to the shock of many fans.

Stephen M. Smith, of TD Alabama Magazine, put it all together in a single tweet.

Anderson is a finalist for the Nagurski award, for the nation’s “most outstanding defensive player,” and the Bednarik award, which recognizes the nation’s top defensive performer.

However, Anderson was not named a finalist for the Butkus award, recognizing the nation’s top linebacker; the Walter Camp Player of the year award or the Lott IMPACT Trophy.

As mentioned in Smith’s tweet, Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis is nominated for all aforementioned awards, excluding the Butkus award for linebackers.

Davis has been a big-time contributor for the Bulldogs in 2021, but has made headlines for his sheer size and strength.

Some fans have taken to Twitter to compare the two and point out a few discrepancies.

Another tweeter included Aidan Hutchinson, the star Michigan DE, who is also up for plenty of awards.

The finalists for the Heisman Trophy have not yet been announced, but there are plenty of fans and analysts who believe Will Anderson jr. deserves a trip up to New York as a finalist, at the very least.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Will Anderson jr. as his dominance will carry over into the Crimson Tide postseason.

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Who are the finalists for the Maxwell Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award?

The Maxwell Football Club announced the finalists for this year’s Maxwell Award and Bednarik Award.

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The Maxwell Football Club announced on Tuesday the three finalists for the Maxwell Award and four finalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award.

The prestigious honors recognize the best in college football, with the Maxwell Award going to the nation’s top player and the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player.

A season ago, the Maxwell Award went to, not surprisingly, DeVonta Smith of Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s wide receiver, a first round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, became the third straight SEC player to win the award following Tua Tagovailoia (Alabama) in 2018 and Joe Burrow (LSU) in 2019. Smith broke a stretch of four straight quarterbacks winning the award.

Zaven Collins from Tulsa received the Chuck Bednarik Award following a season where he had 54 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks and four interceptions.

Traditionally, the award recipients are honored at a gala event in March at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

What Big Ten players are up for the Maxwell Award and the Bednarik Award?

A total of six Big Ten players are up for national awards from the Maxwell Football Club.

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This week, the Maxwell Football Club announced the semifinalists for their signature awards. The 15 players up for the Maxwell Award and 18 for the Bednarik Award are among the very best in college football.

The Maxwell Award is given to the nation’s top player, with recent honorees including Devonta Smith, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in recent years. Handed out to the top defensive player in college football, the Bednarik Award has a strong track record with five selections having been taken in the first round in as many years.

Four Big Ten players are represented on the Bednarik Award and two are up for the Maxwell Award. The three finalists for each award will be announced on Dec. 3.

 

The Maxwell Award and the Bednarik Award winners will be officially be named on the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9. The broadcast will air on ESPN.

 

Florida EDGE Zach Carter added to Bednarik Award watch list

Florida DE Zach Carter leads the SEC and now joins teammate Kaiir Elam on the Bednarik Award watch list.

Florida edge rusher Zach Carter has been added to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, according to the Maxwell Football Club.

The Bednarik Award has been presented to the best defensive player in college football each season since 1995, and Carter’s play this season has warranted recognition from the committee. He leads the Southeastern Conference with six sacks through five games, matched only by teammate Brenton Cox Jr.

Elite edge rushers have taken home the last two Bednarik awards, including Kentucky’s Josh Allen in 2018. If Carter can finish out the season as strong as he started (three of his six sacks came against FAU in the season opener), then Florida’s leader on the defensive line may have a shot at being a finalist.

There are a number of great defenders in college football right now, perhaps most notably Michigan‘s Aidan Hutchinson. It will be hard for Carter to catch up and earn that kind of recognition, but being named to the watchlist is a start. Florida’s schedule gets a lot easier in November after the Georgia game, and Carter should be able to boost his sack numbers against teams such as South Carolina and Samford.

Florida defensive back Kaiir Elam is also on the watch list, but he’s been out for a few games with injury. Both players have been leaders of the defense, especially with the loss of linebacker Ventrell Miller, so the focus will continue to be on them for the rest of the season.

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Rutgers football: National recognition coming in for Olakunle Fatukasi

Rutgers football’s Olakunle Fatukasi gets big weekly honor from the Maxwell Football Club.

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It has certainly been a whirlwind of a few days for Rutgers football. The latest bit of buzz is about Olakunle Fatukasi, who was named the Bednarik Award Player of the Week.

This comes after Rutgers received votes in ‘The Week 1 AFCA USA TODAY Coaches Poll‘ as well as coming in No. 24 in the first regular season poll from FoxSports.com.

The nod for Fatukasi comes after a tremendous performance from the Scarlet Knights linebacker. He had nine tackles including four tackles for a loss and three sacks as Rutgers beat Temple 61-14 on Saturday.

Fatukasi got the scoring started early as he registered a safety on Temple quarterback D’Wan Mathis on Temple’s opening possession.

 

In preseason, Fatukasi was named to the ‘Bednarik Award Watch List.’ The award, given out by the Maxwell Football Club, is in recognition for the nation’s top defensive player. It is considered the top defensive award for a college football player.

Last year, Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins won the award. The last five recipients of the award have all been first round picks in the NFL Draft.

The Maxwell Football Club also awards the Maxwell Award, given to the nation’s top college football player.

 

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Four Notre Dame players named to Preseason All-American Team

See who made this year’s list for the Irish.

The Associated Press has released its Preseason All-American Team, and Notre Dame has four representatives on it. For most schools, one player making this team would be cause for celebration. However, Notre Dame is not “most schools”, and there are plenty of players expected to have fantastic seasons. While it’s obviously not a guarantee of success for the upcoming season, it shows how confident sportswriters are in a given player.

Here are those who represent the Irish on this prestigious team in 2021:

Wisconsin LB Jack Sanborn named to the Butkus Award preseason watch list

The Wisconsin senior linebacker has been added to another preseason award watch list

On Monday morning, Wisconsin inside linebacker Jack Sanborn was named to the Butkus Award Watch List, which is awarded to the best linebacker in college football every season.

Related: Wisconsin LB Jack Sanborn named to Bednarik Award Watch List

This will be the third award that Jack Sanborn has been nominated for this offseason. In addition to the Butkus Award Watch List, the senior linebacker has already been named to the watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Bednarik Award.

Jack Sanborn has been the anchor of the Wisconsin defense for the last couple of seasons, and I would not be surprised to see him added to a few more watch lists before the season starts.

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Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton named to Bednarik Award watch list

The Irish’s star safety will be a player to watch in 2021.

Monday will go down as a day that forced the college football world to keep an eye on two particular Notre Dame players in 2021. One is Kyren Williams, who was named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which goes to the player deemed the best in college football. The other is Kyle Hamilton, who has earned the same honor for the Bednarik Award, which is awarded to the best defensive player of a given season:

Like with Williams and the Maxwell Award, Hamilton winning the Bednarik Award would share Manti Te’o earning the same honor in 2012. To do that, Hamilton will have to keep up his numbers in one area while improving in another. His 63 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss in 2020 both were improvements from the previous season. However, he had one interception, down from four in 2019.

It won’t an easy task for Hamilton, but he certainly has the potential.

Haskell Garrett and Zach Harrison on preseason Bednarik award watch list

Both Haskell Garrett and Zach Harrison appear on the preseason Bednarik watch list. The award has been around since 1995 and is handed out to the best defensive player annually by @MawellFootball.

There were a couple of presason college football watch lists that were released on Monday, and both have a pair of Ohio State players on them. Not only did receivers Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave make the preseason Maxwell Award watch list, but on the defensive side of the ball, defensive lineman Haskell Garrett and Zach Harrison have been announced as players to watch for the Bednarik Award.

Like the Maxwell Award, the Bednarik is also awarded by the Maxwell Football Club annually, but to the player judged to be the best defensive player in college football. It has been handed out since 1995, with just one Ohio State player taking the prize home when defensive end Chase Young did so in 2019.

To get a look at the rest of the names appearing on the Bednarik watch list, you can scope out the list below.

With both Garrett and Harrison on the defensive line, Ohio State should be able to create havoc with opponents running game and get some significant pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

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Florida’s star defensive back named to Bednarik Award watch list

Elam is the first Florida player named to a preseason award watch list.

The preseason hype only continues to grow for junior Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam. After a stellar 2020 season in which he was named to the Coaches First Team All-SEC and AP Second Team All-SEC, he’s considered a potential top 10 pick in the 2022 NFL draft.

He’s also expected to be one of the top defensive players in college football, as he was named to the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award on Monday. The Bednarik Award is given annually to the best defensive player in the nation.

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Elam started all 12 games in 2020 for the Gators, totaling 39 tackles and two interceptions, which tied for first on the team with Shawn Davis. He also led the team with 11 pass breakups.

UF’s secondary was a weakness last season, but Elam’s play was a bright spot. Starting alongside Jaydon Hill, he’s expected to be one of the SEC’s best corners in 2021.

He’ll hope to remain in the running for the Bednarik Award as the season progresses. The winner will be announced at the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9.

So far, Elam is the only Florida player named to a preseason award watch list, but that will almost certainly change. He should also be named to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the top defensive back in the nation.

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