2013 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List Released
By Josh Sanchez
The Bronko Nagurski trophy, which is given annually to the nation’s top defensive player, unveiled their initial watch list for the 2013 college football season with a total of 81 players. Obviously, the list will be trimmed down throughout the first few weeks of the season, but there is one name that we expect to see near the top of the list all season long.
South Carolina’s star defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney, who many expect to be a Heisman finalist, highlights the list that features 28 linebackers, 27 defensive linemen and 26 defensive backs.
It also comes as no surprise that Alabama ties for the most players on the list (4), along with Stanford, and that the SEC leads all conferences with the most representatives.
Here is a breakdown of the list by conference:
SEC: 16
Pac-12: 14
Big Ten: 13
ACC: 12
Big 12: 12
American: 4
Independents: 3
Conference USA: 2
MAC: 2
Mountain West: 2
Sun Belt: 1
Last season, the award went to Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, who do you think will receive the honor for the 2013 season?
Here is the full list of players on the initial 2013 Bronko Nagurski Award watch list:
Ricardo Allen, Purdue, DB
Jeremiah Attaochu, Georgia Tech, DL
Deion Barnes, Penn State, DL
Calvin Barnett, Oklahoma State, DL
Anthony Barr, UCLA, LB
Deion Belue, Alabama, DB
Bene Benwikere, San Jose State DB
Greg Blair, Cincinnati, LB
Chris Borland, Wisconsin, LB
Tre Boston, North Carolina, DB
Carl Bradford, Arizona State, LB
Morgan Breslin, USC, DL
Jonathan Brown, Illinois, LB
Christian Bryant, Ohio State, DB
Max Bullough, Michigan State, LB
Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina, DL
Ross Cockrell, Duke, DB
Aaron Colvin, Oklahoma, DB
Scott Crichton, Oregon State, DL
Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State, DB
Quandre Diggs, Texas, DB
Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh, DL
Dominique Easley, Florida, DL
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon, DB
Antone Exum, Virginia Tech, DB
Devonte Fields, TCU, DL
Ben Gardner, Stanford, DL
Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State, DB
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama, DB
Ra’Shede Hageman, Minnesota, DL
Bryce Hager, Baylor, LB
Andre Hal, Vanderbilt, DB
Jordan Hicks, Texas, LB
Adrian Hubbard, Alabama, LB
Kerry Hyder, Texas Tech, DL
Andrew Jackson, Western Kentucky, LB
Shawn Jackson, Tulsa, LB
Jackson Jeffcoat, Texas, DL
Timmy Jernigan, Florida State, DL
A.J. Johnson, Tennessee, LB
Anthony Johnson, LSU, DL
Christian Jones, Florida State, LB
Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State, DB
Eric Kendricks, UCLA, LB
Demarcus Lawrence, Boise State, DL
Shaun Lewis, Oklahoma State, LB
Craig Loston, LSU, DB
Aaron Lynch, USF, DL
Khalil Mack, Buffalo, LB
Kareem Martin, North Carolina, DL
Daniel McCullers, Tennessee, DL
Terrance Mitchell, Oregon, DB
James Morris, Iowa, LB
C.J. Mosley, Alabama, LB
Trent Murphy, Stanford, LB
Marco Nelson, Tulsa, DB
Louis Nix III, Notre Dame, DL
Roosevelt Nix, Kent State, DL
Denzel Nkemdiche, Ole Miss, LB
Kevin Pierre-Louis, Boston College, LB
Hayes Pullard, USC, LB
Loucheiz Purifoy, Florida, DB
Ed Reynolds, Stanford, DB
Bradley Roby, Ohio State, DB
Marcus Rush, Michigan State, DL
Tyler Scott, Northwestern, DL
Ryan Shazier, Ohio State, LB
Shayne Skov, Stanford, LB
Yawin Smallwood, Connecticut, LB
Chris Smith, Arkansas, DL
Hakeem Smith, Louisville, DB
Will Sutton, Arizona State, DL
Damian Swann, Georgia, DB
Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame, DL
Jack Tyler, Virginia Tech, LB
Kyle Van Noy, BYU, LB
Jason Verrett, TCU, DB
Nickoe Whitley, Mississippi State, DB
Nikita Whitlock, Wake Forest, DL
Leonard Williams, USC, DL
Ty Zimmerman, Kansas State, DB