It’s preseason awards watchlist season! Yesterday, the Maxwell Award shortlist was released and it featured a dozen Big Ten players. Today, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy watchlist were released.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded to the top defensive player in college football by the FWAA since 1993. Although it was named the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 1995 after the Minnesota two-way legend.
This year, 16 Big Ten players were named from nine different schools. Ohio State leads the Big Ten and the nation with four honorees.
16 Big Ten Players Named to Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watchlist
A Set of Four Buckeyes
There might not be another Ohio State defender with higher expectations than Caleb Downs. The safety transferred from Alabama after earning a handful of prestigious awards in his All-SEC freshman season. As a true freshman season, he led the Tide with 107 tackles. That marked the first time in Alabama’s storied history that a freshman led the way. He’s named to this list as a sophomore, one of the few underclassmen with the honor.
The second member of the Bronko Nagurki watchlist from the Ohio State defense is fourth-year starter, Denzel Burke. He’s a two-time All-Big Ten honoree with last season being his first First-Team selection. Burke is coming off a season where he totaled 24 tackles, three tackles for loss, broke up nine passes, forced a fumble, and hauled in an interception.
Jaylahn Tuimoloau spurned the NFL to return to the Buckeyes for his senior season. He is coming off of a career-best season where he amassed 38 tackles, seven tackles for loss, five sacks, two pass breakups, and recovered a fumble. For his career, Tuimoloau has logged 45 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, six sacks, five quarterback hurries, and five pass breakups. He’s looking to make his third First-Team All-Big Ten in 2024.
Finally, Tyleik Williams is a fourth-year defensive tackle for the Buckeyes. He flashed in his first two seasons and finally broke out last year. For his career, Williams has amassed 90 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, three sacks, five pass breakups, a forced fumble, and recovered a fumble for a touchdown.
Three Hawkeyes Make It
The Iowa defense has been among the elites for what feels like decades and they have a pair of linebackers to keep an eye on to go with another top corner. Linebacker Jay Higgins led the country with 171 tackles a year ago to go with five tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. He was a First-Team All-American and is a good bet to repeat this year.
Beside him is linebacker Nick Jackson. There are few defensive players quite as productive as Jackson. He transferred to Iowa last year and posted his fourth 100-tackle season. His 464 career tackles are 12th-most in college football history and he’s within striking distance of the all-time record. With 114 tackles, Jackson would finish with the most tackles in college football history.
In the Hawkeye secondary, cornerback Sebastian Castro is set to follow up his Second-Team All-Big Ten season from a year ago. He posted 67 tackles, eight tackles for loss, a sack, three interceptions (one pick-six), eight pass breakups, and forced three fumbles.
A Pair of Top-10 Talents From Michigan
The Wolverines had the top defense a year ago and return a pair of players who are set to hear their names early in the 2025 NFL Draft.
One of the top defensive linemen in the nation, Mason Graham is set to lead Michigan in 2024. The junior took home Freshman All-American honors in 2022 and then Second-Team All-American honors last season. He is coming off his first First-Team All-Big Ten selection and earned the Rose Bowl MVP in the win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff. Graham has amassed 63 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, over five sacks, two pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble.
A potential top-five pick in next year’s NFL Draft, Will Johnson was the Defensive MVP of the CFP National Championship. He’s coming off a season where he was selected as both a First-Team All-Big Ten and First-Team All-American. Last year, he contributed 27 tackles, one tackle for loss, eight pass breakups, and four interceptions (one pick-six).
A Couple of Ducks
Oregon joined the Big Ten and immediately has a pair of defenders on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist for the 2024 season.
Oregon’s Jabbar Muhammad transferred in from fellow Pac-12-to-Big-Ten program, Washington. Oregon is Muhammad’s third school. He was an All-Big-12 at Oklahoma State in 2022 before moving to Washington. As a member of the Huskies’ secondary, Muhammad earned All-Pac-12 honors with 46 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, three interceptions, and a school-record 16 pass breakups.
Over the last three years, Jeffrey Bassa has been a productive defender. Initially a safety, Bassa moved to linebacker before the 2022 season and didn’t miss a step. For his career, Bassa has logged 182 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three interceptions (one pick-six), and broke up two other passes.
Five More From Five Schools
Rounding out the 16 Big Ten Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist honorees, there are five schools that have one player each: USC, Penn State, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin.
USC’s Bear Alexander transferred in from Georgia after the 2022 season and broke out for the Trojans last year. From his defensive tackle spot, he recorded 48 tackles, six-and-a-half tackles for loss, one-and-a-half sacks, and broke up four passes.
Abdul Carter is making a position change for Penn State in the fall. After earning First-Team All-Big Ten honors as a linebacker, Carter will be lining up as a defensive end. Last year, he made 48 tackles, five-and-a-half tackles for loss, four-and-a-half sacks, five pass breakups, an interception, and a forced fumble.
Last season, Purdue’s Dillon Thieneman was one of the best freshmen in the nation. He earned National Defensive Freshman of the Year from the FWAA. Thieneman accounted for an impressive 106 tackles, two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles, and six interceptions. He finished with the third-most interceptions at the FBS level.
Xander Mueller has been holding down Northwestern’s linebacker spot for the last two years. He has been one of the more productive players in the conference. He’s coming off his first 100-tackle season and has amassed a total of 197 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, seven-and-a-half sacks, five interceptions, four pass breakups, forced a fumble, and recovered a fumble over the last two seasons.
Finally, Wisconsin had Hunter Wohler named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist. Last season was his big break. The safety made 120 tackles, five-and-a-half tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, and broke up six passes.
