The preseason of awards is coming to an end, and the first of two defensive watch lists will be released on Monday. This time it is the Bednarik Award, which is given to the best defensive player in college football. This year marks the 30th season of the award.

The first week saw the Maxwell Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Outland Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award, Paul Hornung Award, Wuerffel Trophy, Ray Gay Award and Lou Groza Award unveiled. Last week, the watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Doak Walker Award, Biletnikoff Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Mackey Award and Rimington Trophy were released.

The Big Ten has 19 defensemen named to the Bednarik Award watch list, tied with the ACC for second in the nation. Five schools have three players on the list, and three of those schools are in the Big Ten.

19 Big Ten defenders land on the Bednarik Award watch list

Three Hawkeyes

Iowa has two linebackers to watch and another top cornerback. Linebacker Jay Higgins led the country last year with 171 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, four pass breakups, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He was a first-team All-American.

Next to him is Nick Jackson. He transferred to Iowa last year and posted his fourth 100-tackle season. His 464 career tackles are the 12th most in college football history and he is within striking distance of the record. With 114 tackles, Jackson would have the most tackles in college football history.

In the Hawkeye secondary, cornerback Sebastian Castro will build on his Second-Team All-Big Ten season from last year, recording 67 tackles, eight tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions (one pick-six), eight pass breakups and forcing three fumbles.

Three from Michigan

Michigan has two of the nation’s best defensive tackles. Mason Graham was named a Freshman All-American in 2022 and a Second-Team All-American last season. He is coming off his first First-Team All-Big Ten selection. Graham has collected 63 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, over five sacks, two pass breakups, one forced fumble and one recovered fumble.

Despite only starting five games in his time with the Wolverines, Kenneth Grant has caught the attention of scouts everywhere. He is an athletic prodigy with 29 games of experience over the past two seasons. In the CFP National Championship, he was responsible for one sack, one pass defense and two solo tackles.

Will Johnson, a potential top-five pick in next year’s NFL Draft, was the best defensive player in the CFP National Championship. He’s coming off a season in which he was selected as both 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 horse chestnuts

Denzel Burke, a four-year starter, has been named All-Big Ten twice and was a first-team selection for the first time last season. Burke is coming off a season in which he totaled 24 tackles, three tackles for loss, defended nine passes, forced a fumble and recorded an interception.

There is perhaps no other Ohio State defensive lineman with higher expectations than Caleb Downs. The safety arrived from Alabama after leading the Tide with 107 tackles, the first time in Alabama’s illustrious history that a freshman led the way. He was named to this list as a sophomore, one of the few underclassmen to earn the honor.

Finally, Jack Sawyer was on the verge of his breakthrough during his entire three-year career and finally took over a game in the Cotton Bowl. In the loss, he recorded three sacks, which was his personal best. In total, Sawyer was responsible 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 switch at Penn State this fall. After being named to the First-Team All-Big Ten as a linebacker, Carter will play defensive end. Last year, he made 48 tackles, five and a half tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, five pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble.

In his first full-time season, Kevin Winston Jr. broke out for Penn State. As a sophomore, he recorded 61 tackles with two and a half for loss, one interception, five pass breakups and recovered two fumbles.

A few badgers

Wisconsin had named Hunter Wohler to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, in addition to the Bednarik Award watch list. Last season was his big breakout season. The safety made 120 tackles, five and a half tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and intercepted six passes.

Like Wohler, Ricardo Hallman is the Badgers’ defensive lineman and had an outstanding season. He was the best player in college football with seven interceptions and even scored a touchdown. In addition, he collected 34 tackles, three tackles for loss and intercepted five passes.

More from the Front Seven

After missing most of 2023 due to injury, Minnesota senior linebacker Cody Lindenberg is back on the Bednarik Award watch list for 2024. He only played in four games last year. In 2022, he played a full season and recorded 71 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and two passes defensed.

Nash Hutmacher is a fifth-year defensive tackle for Nebraska. It took him a 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 held the linebacker spot at Northwestern for the past two years. He has been one of the most productive players in the conference, coming off his first 100-tackle season and has amassed 197 total tackles, 21 tackles for loss, seven and a half sacks, five interceptions, four pass breakups, one forced fumble and one recovered fumble over the past two seasons.

USC’s Bear Alexander transferred from Georgia after the 2022 season and broke out with the Trojans last year. From his spot as a defensive tackle, he recorded 48 tackles, six and a half tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and four pass interceptions.

First-class defensive backs

Jabbar Muhammad of Oregon transferred from Washington. Oregon is Muhammad’s third school. Before transferring to Washington, he was an All-Big-12 selection at Oklahoma State in 2022. 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 country, earning FWAA National Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. Thieneman accounted for an impressive 106 tackles, two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles and six interceptions. He finished the season with the third-most interceptions at the FBS level.