As the pre-season awards watchlists lumber along, we get a look at the big dudes up front. Eleven ACC linemen are on the list for the Lombardi Award announced late this week.
The award, obviously named for legendary coach Vince Lombardi, is awarded to the best offensive or defensive lineman in the country. And it comes with some very specific guidelines.
The ACC Nominees
Here are the ACC players who made the list:
Barret Carter, Clemson, Senior, Linebacker
Blake Miller, Clemson, Junior, Offensive Tackle
Peter Woods, Clemson, Sophomore, Defensive Tackle
Patrick Payton, Florida State, Redshirt Junior, Defensive End
Darius Washington, Florida State, Redshirt Senior, Offensive Tackle
Ashton Gillotte, Louisville, Senior, Defensive End
Rueben Bain, Jr., Miami, Sophomore, Defensive End
Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina, Graduate Student, Defensive End
Logan Parr, SMU, Senior, Offensive Guard
Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech, Graduate Student, Defensive Tackle
Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Virginia Tech, Redshirt Senior, Defensive End
Specific and Detailed Criteria
Now if you look at that list, you might be thinking, these guys just told me the award was for linemen. What is a Clemson linebacker doing in there? Good question.
The guidelines for the award are very specific. The player must be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap. Or, the player can be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage. So Barrett Carter sneaking in for that push into the backfield qualifies him, per the committee.
And there is one more rule from the committee. The player must not be someone who comes out of the offensive backfield and is set up on the line of scrimmage as a blocker or a receiver or listed in the program as an offensive back or receiver.
By The Numbers
In fact the 2024 watch list is made up of 18 defensive tackles, 17 defensive ends, and 19 linebackers on defense. And there are 18 offensive tackles, 10 offensive guards, 6 offensive centers, and 2 tight ends on offense. The entire watch list can be seen here.
The 2023 winner was defensive Laiatu Latu of UCLA. The 2024 winner will be announced on December 12th.
The award is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Houston, which funnels all of the proceeds from the award gala and the table sales to cancer research charities.
