Tag: Watch List

Gators EDGE named to Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award Preseason Watch List

LJ McCray was named Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award Watch List on Wednesday.

The Maxwell Football Club announced its Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award Preseason Watch List on Wednesday and included Florida Gators five-star edge defender LJ McCray among the many notable names.

The blue-chipper led Mainland High School to its first state title in 20 years last fall and in 35 career games at the prep level, he amassed 133 tackles, 18 sacks and 62 tackles for a loss. As a result, On3 ranked him as the top player in the 2024 cycle at his position.

“McCray signed with the Gators as one of the most physically impressive high school prospects in the 2024 cycle,” ESPN’s Eli Lederman and Adam Rittenberg noted in their assessment of the talented true freshman.

“In his seven-plus months at Florida, McCray’s physical development has only bolstered confidence within the program that the five-star freshman can contribute this fall.”

About the award

The Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award is an honor given each year to the most outstanding freshman player in college football. Named after Shaun Alexander since 2018, this award recognizes the exceptional performance and impact made by these players on their respective teams throughout the season.

The Alexander Award is dedicated to championing future legends and evaluates players based on talent, character, ambassador and legend.

The 37 players on the watch list will be narrowed down to 14 semifinalists on Nov. 6 and reduced to five finalists on Dec. 4. The winner will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 26, and the award will be presented on Friday, March 14, 2025, at the Maxwell Football Club Awards ceremony.

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Senior Bowl reveals the 2025 watch list of prospects

Senior Bowl reveals the 2025 watch list of prospects, which includes over 850 players and 47 quarterbacks

College football is quickly approaching. There’s no surer sign that the CFB season is kicking off than the preseason watch lists.

One of the biggest ones from an NFL draft standpoint is the Senior Bowl’s list. Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy and his staff of scouts released their initial watch list for the 2025 NFL Draft.

This year’s preseason list includes 859 college players, up from 720 ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft. A lot of that is attributable to the inclusion of underclassmen who will meet the Senior Bowl eligibility requirements.

Typically, the Senior Bowl winds up with about 110 players at the annual event in Mobile, Alabama. The 2025 game will take place on Saturday, February 1, at the home of the Univesity of South Alabama

Danny Stutsman named to Lombardi Award watch list

OU’s senior linebacker made another preseason award watch list on Thursday.

Watch list season rolls on, and [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag]’s added another accolade to the ever-growing list of preseason honors for the senior linebacker.

This time, Stutsman was named to the Lombardi Award watch list. “This prestigious accolade continues to honor the Outstanding College Football Lineman, whether on offense or defense, who displays exceptional performance and ability and embodies the character and discipline that Vince Lombardi championed throughout his life,” said the Lombardi Award website.

Stutsman heads into 2024 as one of the best off-ball linebackers in college football. He’s been named to the USA TODAY Sports, CBS Sports and ESPN All-American teams. He was a first-team All-SEC selection by the media and has been named to the Butkus, Bednarik, Nagurski, and Walter Camp Player of the Year watch lists.

Stutsman was also ranked the No. 32 player in the country by ESPN in their top 100 players released this week.

Three Sooners have previously been honored with the award. [autotag]Lee Roy Selmon[/autotag] first won the award back in 1975. [autotag]Tony Casillas[/autotag] earned the distinction in 1985, and [autotag]Tommie Harris[/autotag] took home the trophy in 2003.

Ohio State, Nebraska, and Notre Dame are the only programs with more Lombardi Award winners than the Oklahoma Sooners.

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Oklahoma duo named to Bednarik Award watch list

Pair of Sooners named to the Bednarik Award watch list.

Preseason [autotag]watch list[/autotag] season rolls right along this summer, as we count down the days to the beginning of the 2024 college football season. The Oklahoma Sooners kick things off in less than three weeks. They’ll host the Temple Owls on Friday, August 30.

As OU enters the [autotag]SEC[/autotag], Sooner fans are as excited about the defensive side of the ball as they’ve been in a long, long time. Under third-year head coach and defensive maven [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], that unit looks to finally be capable of playing up to the Oklahoma standard.

Star power and veteran leadership are certainly part of the reason why. The offseason returns of linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] and safety [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] meant the Sooners would have no shortage of experience at two key spots. That’s doubly important as OU breaks in new defensive coordinator [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag].

Stutsman and Bowman had already been named to the Bronco Nagurski Trophy preseason watch list, but the duo wasn’t done.

The pair was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award preseason watch list on Monday. The Bednarik Award is given to the best defensive player in college football. The award is named in honor of Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik, who was an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania and later an All-Pro linebacker and center in the NFL. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. Oklahoma has one previous winner of the award, which was created in 1995. [autotag]Teddy Lehman[/autotag], one of Venables’ finest pupils at linebacker, took home the trophy in 2003.

Stutsman was 15th in the nation in tackles for loss last season, averaging 1.3 per game. He was Oklahoma’s lifeblood and the team’s leader. He was named a second-team Walter Camp All-American and a third-team AP All-American while tallying over 100 tackles for the second straight year.

Bowman was a nightmare in the secondary for opposing offensive coordinators. Three pick-six touchdowns accompanied his six total interceptions last year, making him one of the most dangerous defensive backs in all of college football.

The 2021 classmates have stepped into leadership roles for the Sooners, joining Venables and sophomore starting quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] at [autotag]SEC media days[/autotag] last month.

If Oklahoma wants to get back to playing dominating, suffocating defense, Stutsman and Bowman will need to continue leading the way. The Sooners have a chance to be special on that side of the ball in 2024, but they won’t be able to get there without their two Bednarik Award watch list stars.

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Oklahoma Sooners running back named to Wuerffel Trophy watch list

Oklahoma Sooners running back Gavin Sawchuk named to Wuerffel Trophy watch list.

[autotag]Watch list[/autotag] season has begun in college football, and another offensive star is on award watch.

On Friday, Oklahoma Sooners running back [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] was named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list. The Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the player who best combines community service with academic and on-field success.

Sawchuk, who took over midseason for the Oklahoma Sooners, closed 2023 with five straight 100-yard games. On the season, he carried the ball 120 times for 744 yards and nine touchdowns. He also caught 14 passes for 94 yards.

Two Oklahoma Sooners have won the award since its inception in 2005. Former Oklahoma offensive linemen Gabe Ikard (2013) and Ty Darlington (2015).

Sawchuk is looking get off to a faster start in 2024 and with a healthy offseason, has a chance to have a big season for the Sooners.

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Wisconsin star safety Hunter Wohler named to third preseason watch list

Wisconsin star safety Hunter Wohler named to third preseason watch list

Wisconsin safety Hunter Wohler was named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Wuerffel Trophy on Thursday.

The trophy is ‘college football’s premier award for community service.’ It is Wohler’s third significant preseason watch list, along with the Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back) and Bronko Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player).

Related: Top storylines as the Wisconsin Badgers begin fall camp

The nomination period for the 2024 Wuerffel Trophy ran from May 22 to June 14 with nominations coming exclusively from FBS programs’ media relations staff. The trophy is then given to the athlete who shows ‘Sustained, measurable and documented community service to others in need’ on a ‘local, statewide, national or international’ scale.

Wohler is among the list of notable players nominated including Arizona QB Noah Fifita, Florida QB Graham Mertz, Georgia DB Malachi Starks, Iowa LB Jay Higgins, LSU OT Will Campbell, Ohio State C Seth McLaughlin and Oklahoma State QB Alan Bowman.

Wohler enters 2024 as Wisconsin’s unquestioned defensive leader after a breakout 2023 campaign. His 120-tackle, 5.5 tackle-for-loss, 1.0-sack, 2-interception, 6 pass-deflection 2023 season cemented his place as one of the best defenders in the sport. That profile should only grow in 2024.

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Wisconsin star safety named to 2024 Jim Thorpe Award watch list

Wisconsin star safety named to 2024 Jim Thorpe Award watch list

Wisconsin star safety Hunter Wohler was named to his second watch list on Wednesday, this for the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award.

Wohler is now on the watch list for this award, given to the nation’s best defensive back, and for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy given to the nation’s best overall defensive player.

Related: Everything to know about the Wisconsin Badgers quarterback room entering 2024 fall camp

Other notable nominees for the Jim Thorpe Award include Ohio State‘s Denzel Burke and Caleb Downs, Iowa‘s Sebastian Castro, Arizona’s Tacario Davis, Kentucky‘s Maxwell Hairston, Michigan‘s Will Johnson, Alabama‘s Malachi Moore, Notre Dame‘s Benjamin Morrison and Xavier Watts, Oregon‘s Jabbar Muhammad, Georgia‘s Malaki Starks and Purdue’s Dillon Thieneman. It’s a star-studded group of some of the nation’s top defenders.

Wohler enters 2024 after a breakout 120-tackle, 5.5 tackle-for-loss, 1.0-sack, 2-interception, 6 pass-deflection 2023 season that squarely put him on the map as one of the nation’s best defensive players, let alone just in the Big Ten.

He is expected to replicate that production this season as Wisconsin looks to make a significant jump in year two under head coach Luke Fickell.

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Oklahoma Sooners safety named to Jim Thorpe Award watch list

One of the best defensive backs in the nation were added to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.

One of the best defensive backs in college football is taking the stage once again in 2024 as [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] opted to return to the Oklahoma Sooners for his senior season.

In 2023, Bowman erupted for six interceptions, returning three of them for interceptions. He became a highlight reel waiting to happen, making quarterbacks pay for trying him in the passing game.

In addition to his six interceptions, Bowman had three passes defended and three tackles for loss.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Bowman was named to the Jim Thorpe Award Watch List. The Thorpe Award is given to the best defensive back in the nation.

Bowman is expected to take another step in his development after his breakout 2023 season. In addition to his performance on the field, his leadership of the next generation of Sooners safeties is paramount, not only to what the defense can do in 2024 but beyond.

Young safeties like [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag] and [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] are expected to step in for [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag] and [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag], who left the team after 2023.

[autotag]Rickey Dixon[/autotag] won the award in 1987, the second year of the Thorpe. [autotag]Roy Williams[/autotag] took home the trophy after a dominant 2001 campaign. [autotag]Derrick Strait[/autotag] is the last Sooner to take home the Thorpe back in 2004.

Only one other program in college football history has earned three Thorpe Awards, the LSU Tigers.

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Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis Sutton named to Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list

Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton have been named to the watch list for a top defensive award in 2024.

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.

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Florida shooting guard Riley Kugel makes Jerry West Award watch list

This Florida Gators shooting guard was added to the Jerry West Award watch list on Tuesday ahead of tipoff for the 2023 season.

Florida men’s basketball season is just beyond the horizon and fans are eagerly awaiting the opening tip.

Head coach Todd Golden returns to the bench for his second year after an early bounce from the NIT, no thanks to the UCF Knights. The 2023-24 squad is young and formidable, and there are seven transfers helping to fill space on the roster.

One of the young weapons who’s expected to make an immediate impact is sophomore shooting guard [autotag]Riley Kugel[/autotag]. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has high expectations for the Orlando, Florida, native, adding his name to the Jerry West Award watch list for the season.

The award is given to the best-performing shooting guard of the season and Kugel joins a watch list with 19 other guards in Division I basketball.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame president John L. Doleva says the list was carefully chosen by a committee of top college basketball personnel.

“Each of the student-athletes nominated for the 2024 Jerry West Award has the same skillset that made Jerry West a household name, and they should be very proud of this accomplishment,” Doleva said.  “Our committee, alongside Jerry, is honored to watch this exceptional group and work together to narrow down the list as the season progresses.”

Kugel adds to a list of accolades amassed over short time. The sophomore earned a second-team All-SEC nod last week and collected SEC All-Freshman Honors in 2022.

The Florida begins its season on Nov. 6 against the Loyola Marymount Greyhounds inside the the O’Connell Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. EDT and will broadcast on the SEC Network+.

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