Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III, who won the Nagurski Trophy last year as the nation's top defensive player, leads a field of 88 players on the preseason Nagurski watch list.
If Wright has a season anywhere near similar to what he accomplished last year, the honor could be his for a second consecutive season. Wright made 163 tackles last year with 29 tackles for loss for the Wildcats, and sparked an upset win over Oregon by forcing a late fumble by Ducks star quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald is the only player to ever win the honor twice.
Michigan State's Shilique Calhoun, FSU safety Jalen Ramsey, Ohio State's Joey Bosa, Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman and Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III are among the other top talents on the list. Five finalists will be chosen from the FWAA All-America team on Nov. 19, with the winner announced on Dec. 7.
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
Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list
LB Dominique Alexander, Oklahoma
DE Jonathan Allen, Alabama
DB Budda Baker, Washington
DB Dante Barnett, Kansas State
DE Derek Barnett, Tennessee
LB Kendell Beckwith, LSU
DB Vonn Bell, Ohio State
LB Vince Biegel, Wisconsin
DT Andrew Billings, Baylor
DB Quin Blanding, Virginia
DB Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Minnesota
DE Joey Bosa, Ohio State
LB Kentrell Brothers, Missouri
DE DeForest Buckner, Oregon
LB James Burgess, Louisville
DE Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State
DB Maurice Canady, Virginia
DB Michael Caputo, Wisconsin
DB Jeremy Cash, Duke
DT Kenny Clark, UCLA
DT Maliek Collins, Nebraska
DB Tony Conner, Ole Miss
DE Kamalei Correa, Boise State
LB Su'a Cravens, USC
DT Sheldon Day, Notre Dame
DE Ken Ekanem, Virginia Tech
LB Kyler Fackrell, Utah State
LB Leonard Floyd, Georgia
DB Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech
DE Myles Garrett, Texas A&M
DT Adam Gotsis, Georgia Tech
DB Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida
LB Myles Jack, UCLA
DB William Jackson, Houston
DB Adoree' Jackson, USC
DE Jordan Jenkins, Georgia
DT Gerrand Johnson, ULM
DB Jonathan Jones, Auburn
DT Chris Jones, Mississippi State
DB Karl Joseph, West Virginia
DE Bronson Kaufusi, BYU
DE Carl Lawson Auburn
LB Darron Lee, Ohio State
DB William Likely, Maryland
DB Jordan Lucas, Penn State
DT Luther Maddy, Virginia Tech
LB Curt Maggitt, Tennessee
DT Corey Marshall, Virginia Tech
LB Blake Martinez, Stanford
LB Tyler Matakevich, Temple
DB Danzel McDaniel, Kansas State
DB Adrian McDonald, Houston
LB Cassanova McKinzy, Auburn
DB Jalen Mills, LSU
DB Fabian Moreau, UCLA
LB Antonio Morrison, Florida
DB Eric Murray, Minnesota
DE Dadi Nicolas, Virginia Tech
DT Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss
LB Jared Norris, Utah
DE Shawn Oakman, Baylor
DE Pat O'Connor, Eastern Michigan
DE Emmanuel Ogbah, Oklahoma State
DE Drew Ott, Iowa
LB Joshua Perry, Ohio State
LB Reggie Ragland, Alabama
DB Jalen Ramsey, Florida State
DE Sheldon Rankins, Louisville
DB Will Redmond, Mississippi State
DE Pete Robertson, Texas Tech
DT A'Shawn Robinson, Alabama
DB KeiVarae Russell, Notre Dame
DB Zack Sanchez, Oklahoma
LB Jovan Santos-Knox, Massachusetts
LB Joe Schmidt, Notre Dame
DE Ian Seau, Nevada
LB Terrance Smith, Florida State
LB Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame
LB Eric Striker, Oklahoma
DE Charles Tapper, Oklahoma
DB Darian Thompson, Boise State
LB Jeremy Timpf, Army
DT Travis Tuiloma, BYU
DT Adolphus Washington, Ohio State
DB Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech
LB Scooby Wright III, Arizona
DB Ronald Zamort, Western Michigan
DT Anthony Zettel, Penn State
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
