FWAA Releases Outland and Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List

December 29, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive tackle Will Sutton (90) sacks Navy Midshipmen quarterback Keenan Reynolds (19) in the third quarter of the Fight Hunger Bowl at AT

Watch list season — a.k.a Still Not Quite Football Season — rolls on Thursday with the release of two trophies’ candidates.

The Football Writers Association of America issued its preseason contenders for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the nation’s premier defensive player, and the Outland Trophy, which goes to college football’s top interior lineman.

As a member of the FWAA, I am a voter for each of these awards. Former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Barrett Jones received my Outland Trophy vote; Texas A&M Aggies tackle Luke Joeckel won the award. My Bronko Nagurski Trophy nominee, Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te’o, was also the award’s winner.

The SEC continues to dominate these preseason awards watch lists. The conference landed the most nominees for the Outland Trophy with 16, outpacing the Pac-12’s dozen. The SEC also has 16 on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, two more than the Pac-12.

Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews assumes the leadership role on the Aggie offensive line, which helped teammate Joeckel claim the 2012 Outland Trophy. Matthews will pave the way for Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel, and establish the tone for Kevin Sumlin’s uptempo offensive philosophy.

Jadeveon Clowney highlights the Bronko Nagurski contenders. He is the solely finalist for last year’s award appearing on the watch list. Notable conference counterparts joining him are Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley and cornerback Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson and Ole Miss linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche.

Of the Pac-12’s 14 candidates, the two with perhaps the best chances of winning are Arizona State Sun Devils tackle Will Sutton and UCLA Bruins linebacker Anthony Barr. Both ranked near the top nationally for both sacks and tackles for loss in 2012.

Sutton is also an Outland Trophy nominee.

The USC Trojans and Stanford Cardinal represent the Pac-12 well on the Outland list. USC and Stanford, along with Tennessee and Florida State, produced 13 nominees.

Three preseason Detmer Award candidates are also Nagurski Trophy contenders: linebackers Kyle Van Noy (BYU) and Khalil Mack (Buffalo), and defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (Boise State).

Below are the complete lists for both the Outland and Bronko Nagurski Trophy:

Bronko Nagurski Trophy

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

Outland Trophy

Calvin Barnett, Oklahoma State, DT
Austen Bujnoch, Cincinnati, G
Chris Burnette, Georgia, G
A.J. Cann, South Carolina, G
Ryan Carrethers, Arkansas State, DT
Le’Raven Clark, Texas Tech, OT
Deandre Coleman, California, DT
La’el Collins, LSU, OT
Kevin Danser, Stanford, G
Anthony Dima, Massachusetts, OT
Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh, DT
Dominique Easley, Florida, DT
Cameron Erving, Florida State, OT
BJ Finney, Kansas State, C
Cameron Fleming, Stanford, OT
Kevin Graf, USC, OT
Hroniss Grasu, Oregon, C
Ryan Groy, Wisconsin, OT
Ra’Shede Hageman, Minnesota, DT
Trey Hopkins, Texas, G
Chucky Hunter, TCU, DT
James Hurst, North Carolina, OT
Kerry Hyder, Texas Tech, DT
Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma, C
Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State, G
Tré Jackson, Florida State, G
Ja’Wuan James, Tennessee, OT
Timmy Jernigan, Florida State, DT
Anthony Johnson, LSU, DT
Kaleb Johnson, Rutgers, OT
Wesley Johnson, Vanderbilt, OT
Tyler Johnstone, Oregon, OT
DaQuan Jones, Penn State, DT
Zac Kerin, Toledo, C
Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama, OT
Tyler Larsen, Utah State, C
Eric Lefeld, Cincinnati, OT
Charles Leno, Boise State, OT
Taylor Lewan, Michigan, OT
Brandon Linder, Miami, G
Spencer Long, Nebraska, G
Antwan Lowery, Rutgers, G
Cornelius Lucas, Kansas State, OT
Eathyn Manumaleuna, BYU, DT
Zack Martin, Notre Dame, OT
John Martinez, USC, G
Jake Matthews, Texas A&M, OT
Daniel McCullers, Tennessee, DT
Jack Mewhort, Ohio State, OT
Andrew Miller, Virginia Tech, C
Morgan Moses, Virginia, OT
Louis Nix III, Notre Dame, DT
Roosevelt Nix, Kent State, DT
Andrew Norwell, Ohio State, G
Kelcy Quarles, South Carolina, DT
Antonio Richardson, Tennessee, OT
Cyril Richardson, Baylor, G
Weston Richburg, Colorado State, C
Isaac Seumalo, Oregon State, C
Will Simmons, East Carolina, G
Jeremiah Sirles, Nebraska, OT
Anthony Steen, Alabama, G
Bryan Stork, Florida State, C
Xavier Su’a-Filo, UCLA, G
Will Sutton, Arizona State, DT
Travis Swanson, Arkansas, C
Brandon Thomas, Clemson, OT
Laken Tomlinson, Duke, G
John Urschel, Penn State, G
Brandon Vitabile, Northwestern, C
Mason Walters, Texas, G
Austin Wentworth, Fresno State, OT
Nikita Whitlock, Wake Forest, DT
Leonard Williams, USC, DT
David Yankey, Stanford, G