Five Buckeyes on Bronko Nagurski Award Watch List – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 10, 2015
| Five Buckeyes were named to the Bronko Nagurski Award preseason watch list Friday morning, tied for most in the country with Virginia Tech. |
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Five Buckeyes have been named to the 2015 Bronko Nagurski Award preseason watch list, announced Friday by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). The award is presented annually to the national defensive player of the year in college football.
The five Buckeyes on the list are junior safety Vonn Bell, redshirt sophomore LB Darron Lee, senior LB Joshua Perry, senior DL Adolphus Washington and junior DE Joey Bosa, who was a finalist for the award last season.
The five Buckeyes on the list are the tied for the most with Virginia Tech.
Bosa became the 27th unanimous All-American in school history and was also named the Big Ten Conference’s defensive player of the year and its defensive lineman of the year. He led the Big Ten in tackles-for-loss (21.0), quarterback sacks (13.5) and ranked 14th nationally in TFLs and 10th in sacks. Bosa has started 25 games in his first two seasons and ranks 14th at Ohio State in career tackles-for-loss (34.5), ninth in TFL yards (187), seventh in quarterback sacks (21.0) and sixth in QB sack yards (154). He has 99 career tackles, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, both for touchdowns (vs. Northwestern in 2013 and vs. Wisconsin in 2014).
Bell started 14 games at one of the safety positions for the Buckeyes last season and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference. He was second on the team in tackles with 92, an impressive total that represents a 12-year high for an Ohio State safety. Bell also recorded six interceptions, a 13-year Ohio State best. He ranked third in the Big Ten with .40 interceptions per game and also ranked 11th in the Big Ten with 12 passes defensed (six interceptions and pass break-ups, respectively). His biggest interception of the season came in the Sugar Bowl vs. No. 1 Alabama in the fourth quarter, as Bell stepped in front of a Blake Sims pass near the goal line to negate a Crimson Tide touchdown that would have tied the game.
Lee started all 15 games as a freshman in 2014 and was named a freshman All-American by USA Today, Athlon’s, Phil Steele and Scout.com. He finished third on the team in tackles with 81 and second in both tackles-for-loss (16.5 for -70 yards) and quarterback sacks (7.5). He also had two interceptions to go along with three pass break-ups, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and the two recovered fumbles, both of which went for touchdowns. Lee ranked seventh in the Big Ten in TFLs and 12th in sacks. He had at least seven tackles in seven games, including in five of the last six with a career best nine vs. Michigan to go along with a 33-yard fumble return touchdown that essentially clinched the win. He later recorded seven solo tackles vs. the Crimson Tide, which included three TFLs, two of those quarterback sacks, and was named Defensive MVP of the Sugar Bowl for his efforts.
Perry is Ohio State’s leading returning tackler and a second team All-Big Ten selection in 2014 after recording 124 tackles, including 3.0 sacks and 8.5 TFL. He has started 24 of 39 games in his career and is No. 1 on the team in career (193) and solo tackles (114). Last season he started 14 of 15 games and led the team in tackles seven times with three double-figure tackling games, highlighted by a career-best 18 stops in the double-overtime win at Penn State.
Washington started 14 games last season, recording season and game career highs in virtually every defensive category, with 48 total tackles, 10.5 tackles-for-loss (42 yards) and 4.5 quarterback sacks. He was named honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference for his efforts. He had a career high eight-tackle game vs. Minnesota, a game he also recorded a personal-best six solo tackles, and registered quarterback sacks against Navy, Penn State, Minnesota, Michigan and in the national title game vs. Oregon. He opened the season with a personal-best two TFLs vs. Navy.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from those five finalists who are part of the 2014 FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s entire membership, selects the 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner, the best defensive player in college football during the FWAA’s 75th anniversary year.
The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet, presented by ACN, will be held on Dec. 7 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. The FWAA has named a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast more than 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more.
