Preseason awards season is starting to wrap up with the first of two defensive watchlists dropping on Monday. This time, it’s the Bednarik Award which is presented to the top defensive player in college football. This year will be the 30th season of the award.
In the first week, the Maxwell Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Outland Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award, Paul Hornung Award, Wuerffel Trophy, Ray Gay Award, and Lou Groza Awards were all previewed. Last week, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Doak Walker Award, Biletnikoff Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Mackey Award, and Rimington Trophy watchlists dropped.
The Big Ten landed 19 defenders on the Bednarik Award watchlist, tying the ACC for second most in the country. Five schools have three players on the list and three of those schools reside in the Big Ten.
19 Big Ten Defenders Land on Bednarik Award Watchlist
Three Hawkeyes
Iowa has 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.
Beside him is Nick 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 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.
Three From Michigan
Michigan has two of the top defensive tackles in the nation. Mason Graham 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. Graham has amassed 63 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, over five sacks, two pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble.
Despite only logging five starts in his time with the Wolverines, Kenneth Grant has the attention of scouts everywhere. He’s an athletic freak with 29 games of experience over the last two seasons. In the CFP National Championship, he accounted for a sack, a pass breakup, and two solo tackles.
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 Trio of Buckeyes
Fourth-year starter, Denzel Burke, is 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.
There might not be another Ohio State defender with higher expectations than Caleb Downs. The safety transferred from Alabama after 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.
Finally, Jack Sawyer has been on the brink of a breakout for his entire three-year career and finally took over a game in the Cotton Bowl. He notched a career-best three sacks in the loss. In total, Sawyer accounted for 48 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, six-and-a-half sacks, two pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.
Two Nittany Lions
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.
In his first full-time season, Kevin Winston, Jr. broke out for Penn State. As a sophomore, he logged 61 tackles with two and a half for loss, an interception, five pass breakups, and recovered two fumbles.
A Couple of Badgers
Wisconsin had Hunter Wohler named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist addition to the Bednarik Award 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.
Like Wohler, Ricardo Hallman holds down the Badgers’ secondary and had a breakout season. His seven interceptions led all of college football and he even returned one for a touchdown. Additionally, he amassed 34 tackles, three tackles for loss, and broke up five passes.
More From the Front Seven
After missing the majority of 2023 with an injury, Minnesota’s senior linebacker Cody Lindenberg is back on the Bednarik Award watchlist for 2024. Last year, he only appeared in four games. In 2022, he played a full season and notched 71 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, and broke up two passes.
Nash Hutmacher is a fifth-year defensive tackle for Nebraska. It took him a little while to get going but he broke out in 2023. In 12 games, Hutmacher made 40 tackles, eight tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, and two pass breakups.
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.
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.
Top-End Defensive Backs
Oregon’s Jabbar Muhammad transferred in from 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.
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.
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