News/Commentary

2024 Bronko Nagurski Preseason Watch List for Top Defensive Player

July 30, 2024 by FWAA

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America released its 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List today, selecting 75 defensive standouts from 56 schools in nine Division I FBS conferences plus Independents as contenders for the national defensive player of the year.

CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a FWAA nominating member for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

The watch list roster includes last year’s winner, Xavier Watts of Notre Dame, plus five other players returning from last season’s FWAA All-America team. Two of the top three tacklers from last season, both All-Americans, are back in the mix along with three of the top five interception leaders and six secondary players who had at least five interceptions last year.

The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2024 trophy on Nov. 20 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 9 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C.

Watts, who tied for the national lead with seven interceptions in 2023 as a first-team All-America safety, headlines the returning All-Americans as the returning honoree along with two-time All-America linebacker Jason Henderson from Old Dominion. Georgia safety Malaki Starks, a Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist last season, is also back from the first team following a season where he was Georgia’s fourth-leading tackler and had seven PBU’s. Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, third in the nation in tackles per game at 12.2, was also on the first team last season.

Henderson returns after consecutive seasons earinng second team recognition. The ODU senior led the nation in tackles per game last year at 14.2 and is 142 total tackles away from the NCAA record as he heads into the 2024 season. Howard Cross III, a defensive tackle at Notre Dame, and Liberty safety Brylan Green are the other returning All-Americans. There are 22 linebackers on the watch list, the most at any position, with Henderson and Higgins leading the way. Green, who tied for sixth in the nation with five interceptions last year, is one of 16 safeties, tied for second-most at any position.

Ohio State is tops among all programs with four selections that include one of the offseason’s top transfer players in Caleb Downs, coming in from Alabama. Downs, a safety, anchors the Buckeyes’ secondary along with cornerback Denzel Burke. Defensive end JT Tuimoloau and defensive tackle Tyleik Williams are Ohio State’s lineman from the list. Iowa ties Georgia for second among the teams with three selections – Higgins and fellow linebacker Nick Jackson along with cornerback Sebastian Castro. Besides Starks, Georgia has linebacker Smael Mondon and defensive end Mykel Williams represented.

Defending national champion Michigan has defensive tackle Mason Graham on the list to go with cornerback Will Johnson. There are nine Big Ten schools represented within the 16-man contingent from that conference. Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan and Oregon (two) have 11 of the 16 spots. Other standouts are Dillon Thieneman of Purdue, who tied for second nationally with six interceptions last year, and Wisconsin linebacker Hunter Wohler, tied for 21st in the FBS with 9.2 tackles per game.

The SEC leads all conferences with 19 overall selections and Georgia leads all SEC schools with three. Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M each have two players on the list. The SEC’s new members blend right in with two apiece on the list. Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman tied Thieneman with six picks in 2023 and joins Sooners playmaking linebacker Danny Stutsman, who was 15th in tackles for loss last season averaging 1.3 per game. Texas sports safety Jahdae Barron and linebacker Anthony Hill. Twelve different SEC schools have a player on the list, including three of the nation’s best pass rushers on the ends in Texas A&M defensive end and Purdue transfer Nick Scourton (0.91 sacks/gm, 6th in FBS), Tennessee’s James Pearce (10.0 total sacks, 11th in FBS) and LSU linebacker Harold Perkins.

As a list by conference, beyond the SEC and Big Ten are a dozen players from the Big 12. Oklahoma State’s premier linebacking pair of Nick Martin and Collin Oliver are on the list – Martin was 15th nationally in total tackles last year with 10.0 per game – and Big 12 newcomer Arizona also has a duo in cornerback Tacario Davis and linebacker Jacob Manu. Much-heralded cornerback Travis Hunter of Colorado makes the list, and Iowa State lists both its safeties in Jeremiah Cooper, who had five picks last year, and Beau Freyler. Utah’s Junior Tafuna is regarded as one of the country’s best defensive tackles.

The ACC has seven players represented followed by the American (5), Mountain West (4), Sun Belt (4), Conference USA (3), Mid-American (3), Independents (2). There is not a selection from the two holdover programs, Oregon State and Washington State, of the former Pac-12.

Ashton Gillotte of Louisville, another premier pass rusher with 11.0 sacks from 2023, is one of two players back from last year’s All-ACC First Team along Virginia safety Jonas Sanker. Miami linebacker Francisco Mauigoa tied for ninth nationally with 1.4 TFL’s per game in 2023. Clemson defensive end Peter Woods is the only member from last season’s FWAA Freshman All-America team.

Among other leaders, Boise State defensive end Ahmed Hassanein was sixth nationally last season with 12.5 total sacks and Miami (Ohio) linebacker Matt Salopek was 12th in the FBS with 143 tackles last season.

By position, the list includes 22 linebackers, 16 defensive ends, 16 safeties, 12 defensive tackles and nine cornerbacks.

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.

Following is the complete 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List

2024 BRONKO NAGURSKI PRESEASON WATCH LIST (75)

DT Bear Alexander, USC
S Jahdae Barron, Texas
LB Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon
DE Tyler Batty, BYU
LB CJ Bazile, Liberty
S Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
CB Cobee Bryant, Kansas
CB Denzel Burke, Ohio State
DE Abdul Carter, Penn State
CB Sebastian Castro, Iowa
S Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State
DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
DT Howard Cross III, Notre Dame
CB Tacario Davis, Arizona
S Caleb Downs, Ohio State
DE Joe Evans, UTSA
DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State
S Beau Freyler, Iowa State
DE Ashton Gillotte, Louisville
DT Mason Graham, Michigan
S Brylan Green, Liberty
CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
DE Ahmed Hassanein, Boise State
LB Jason Henderson, Old Dominion
LB Jay Higgins, Iowa
LB Anthony Hill, Texas
S Maxen Hook, Toledo
S Jack Howell, Colorado State
DT Lee Hunter, UCF
CB Travis Hunter, Colorado
DE Landon Jackson, Arkansas
LB Nick Jackson, Iowa
DT Patrick Jenkins, Tulane
LB Nate Johnson, App State
CB Will Johnson, Michigan
S Ike Larsen, Utah State
LB Deontae Lawson, Alabama
LB Jacob Manu, Arizona
LB Chandler Martin, Memphis
LB Nick Martin, Oklahoma State
LB Francisco Mauigoa, Miami
LB Smael Mondon, Georgia
S Malachi Moore, Alabama
LB Xander Mueller, Northwestern
CB Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon
DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
DE CJ Nunnally IV, Akron
LB Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State
DE James Pearce, Tennessee
DT Aeneas Peeples, Virginia Tech (TR Duke)
LB Harold Perkins, LSU
LB Colin Ramos, Navy
CB Shavon Revel, East Carolina
DE Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina
LB Matt Salopek, Miami (Ohio)
S Jonas Sanker, Virginia
DE Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
S Malaki Starks, Georgia
LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
DT Junior Tafuna, Utah
S Dillon Thieneman, Purdue
DE JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
DE Shemar Turner, Texas A&M
S Jaden Voisin, South Alabama
DT Deone Walker, Kentucky
DE Johnny Walker, Missouri
LB Marques Watson-Trent, Georgia Southern
S Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
DE Maurice Westmoreland, UTEP
LB Debo Williams, South Carolina
DE Mykel Williams, Georgia
DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
S Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin
LB Jackson Woodard, UNLV
DE Peter Woods, Clemson

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. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the five finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.

The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935.