Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil might be the most talented player on the list of 81 Outland Trophy candidates released Friday. However, Ole Miss is investigating allegations of NCAA rules violations involving Tunsil and has pledged full cooperation with the NCAA in the case, as well.
Barring any eligibility issues, Tunsil will be among the front-runners for the award as the nation's best interior lineman.
Baylor offensive tackle Spencer Drango reached the semifinalist list of the Outland Trophy race last year before being eliminated, eventually losing to 2015 first-round pick Brandon Scherff (Iowa), and is the only 2014 semifinalist who returns to the college game this fall.
Other top players in contention include Michigan State center Jack Allen, Notre Dame's Sheldon Day and Ronnie Stanley, and UCLA's Eddie Vanderdoes. Alabama has three candidates: defensive tackles A'Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed, and offensive tackle Cam Robinson. South Carolina right tackle Brandon Shell, the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame guard Art Shell, is on the watch list, too.
The Outland watch list includes 81 players, including 59 from Power Five conferences. Semifinalists will be revealed on Nov. 19, with the winner announced on Dec. 10.
Schedule of award watch list releases:
Tuesday, July 7: Bednarik Award and Maxwell Award
Wednesday, July 8: Mackey Award and Rimington Trophy
Thursday, July 9: Lou Groza Award and Ray Guy Award
Friday, July 10: Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy
Monday, July 13: Jim Thorpe Award
Tuesday, July 14: Butkus Award and Rotary Lombardi Award
Wednesday, July 15: Biletnikoff Award and Wuerffel Trophy
Thursday, July 16: Davey O'Brien Award and Doak Walker Award
Friday, July 17: Walter Camp Award
Outland Trophy watch list
G Vadal Alexander, LSU
C Jack Allen, Michigan State
OT Adrian Bellard, Texas State
DT Andrew Billings, Baylor
DT Beau Blackshear, Baylor
C Austin Blythe, Iowa
C Evan Boehm, Missouri
C J.T. Boyd, East Carolina
C Jake Brendel, UCLA
DT Vernon Butler, Louisiana Tech
OT Le'Raven Clark, Texas Tech
DT Kenny Clark, UCLA
DT Maliek Collins, Nebraska
OT Jack Conklin, Michigan State
OT Austin Corbett, Nevada
OT Joe Dahl, Washington State
C Ty Darlington, Oklahoma
DT Sheldon Day, Notre Dame
OT Taylor Decker, Ohio State
OT Spencer Drango, Baylor
G Parker Ehinger, Cincinnati
G Pat Elflein, Ohio State
G Dan Feeney, Indiana
G Joshua Garnett, Stanford
DT Adam Gotsis, Georgia Tech
Darius Hamilton, Rutgers
OT Ike Harris, East Carolina
C Marcus Henry, Boise State
C Joey Hunt, TCU
OT Germain Ifedi, Texas A&M
OT Roderick Johnson, Florida State
DT Gerrand Johnson, ULM
OT Tyler Johnstone, Oregon
DT Chris Jones, Mississippi State
C Ryan Kelly, Alabama
C Nick Kelly, Arizona State
OT Denver Kirkland, Arkansas
G Alex Kozan, Auburn
G Jimmy Kristof, Western Michigan
DT Luther Maddy, Virginia Tech
DT Corey Marshall, Virginia Tech
C Nick Martin, Notre Dame
OT Ryker Mathews, BYU
OT Kyle Murphy, Stanford
C Andrew Ness, Northern Illinois
DT Thomas Niles, UCF
DT Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss
C Tyler Orlosky, West Virginia
DT Joe Ostman, Central Michigan
DT Davion Pierson, TCU
G Greg Pyke, Georgia
DT Jarran Reed, Alabama
G Andrew Reue, Rice
DT Hassan Ridgeway, Texas
DT A'Shawn Robinson, Alabama
OT Cam Robinson, Alabama
G Isaac Seumalo, Oregon State
OT Brandon Shell, South Carolina
C Matt Skura, Duke
C Matt Sparks, Massachusetts
OT Garrett Stafford, Tulsa
OT Ronnie Stanley, Notre Dame
OT Freddie Tagaloa, Arizona
G Chris Taylor, Tulane
G Wyatt Teller, Virginia Tech
G Spencer Tretola, Arkansas
C Max Tuerk, USC
DT Travis Tuiloma, BYU
OT Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss
G Landon Turner, North Carolina
OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, TCU
OT Clint Van Horn, Marshall
DT Eddie Vanderdoes, UCLA
C Dan Voltz, Wisconsin
DT Adolphus Washington, Ohio State
G Christian Westerman, Arizona State
OT Cody Whitehair, Kansas State
DT Antwaun Woods, USC
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
