PAC-12 lands 18 players on 2014 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List

Contrary to the fictional image of "all offense, no D" West Coast football promoted by Bristol and various other corporate media, the Pac-12 Conference led all leagues with 18 players on the 2014 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, with Oregon, Stanford, USC, and Washington supplying the majority from that conference. The award honors the NCAA's top defensive player.

The four other power conferences – ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC – all had double-digit players on the 81-man list. Eight of the 10 NCAA Division I Bowl Subdivision conferences are represented on the list unveiled by the Football Writers Association of America.

Twelve schools had at least three players on the list – Stanford (4), Washington (4), Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, TCU, and USC.

There are no returning first-team defensive FWAA All-America players from last season, but three 2013 second-teamers are on the 2014 Nagurski Watch List: end Vic Beasley, Clemson; back Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon; and end Ryan Mueller, Kansas State.

Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. Once again, the FWAA will choose a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday throughout the season. If not already on the watch list, the honored player will be added at that time. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2014 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 20.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from those five finalists who are part of the 2014 FWAA All-America Team.

2014 BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST (81)

Henry Anderson, Stanford, DE
Stephone Anthony, Clemson, LB
Vic Beasley, Clemson, DE
Michael Bennett, Ohio State, DT
Craig Bills, BYU, DB
Joey Bosa, Ohio State, DE
Kelby Brown, Duke, LB
Malcom Brown, Texas, DT
Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State, DE
Alex Carter, Stanford, DB
Sam Carter, TCU, DB
Jeremy Cash, Duke, DB
Frank Clark, Michigan, DE
Landon Collins, Alabama, DB
Blake Countess, Michigan, DB
Christian Covington, Rice, DT
Su'a Cravens, USC, DB
Carl Davis, Iowa, DT
Tyeler Davison, Fresno State, DE
Trey DePriest, Alabama, LB
Quandre Diggs, Texas, DB
Lorenzo Doss, Tulane, DB
Kurtis Drummond, Michigan State, DB
Alvin Dupree, Kentucky, DE
Mario Edwards Jr., Florida State, DE
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon, DB
Kyler Fackrell, Utah State, LB
Devonte Fields, TCU, DE
Trey Flowers, Arkansas, DE
Leonard Floyd, Georgia, LB
Dante Fowler Jr., Florida, DE
Alani Fua, BYU, LB
Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech, DB
Markus Golden, Missouri, DE
Randy Gregory, Nebraska, DE
Bryce Hager, Baylor, LB
Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida, DB
Anthony Harris, Virginia, DB
Ben Heeney, Kansas, LB
Chucky Hunter, TCU, DT
Martin Ifedi, Memphis, DE
Myles Jack, UCLA, LB
Grady Jarrett, Clemson, DT
Jordan Jenkins, Georgia, LB
A.J. Johnson, Tennessee, LB
Eric Kendricks, UCLA, LB
Hau'oli Kikaha, Washington, DE
Luther Maddy, Virginia Tech, DT
Derrick Malone, Oregon, LB
Tyler Matakevich, Temple, LB
Derrick Mathews, Houston, LB
Lorenzo Mauldin, Louisville, DE
Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State, LB
Ryan Mueller, Kansas State, DE
Steven Nelson, Oregon State, DB
Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss, DT
Shawn Oakman, Baylor, DE
Denzel Perryman, Miami, LB
Marcus Peters, Washington, DB
Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss, DB
Hayes Pullard, USC, LB
Cedric Reed, Texas, DE
Jordan Richards, Stanford, DB
A’Shawn Robinson, Alabama, DE
KeiVarae Russell, Notre Dame, DB
Jake Ryan, Michigan, LB
Zack Sanchez, Oklahoma, DB
Danny Shelton, Washington, DT
Derron Smith, Fresno State, DB
Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame, LB
Eric Striker, Oklahoma, LB
Charles Tapper, Oklahoma, DE
A.J. Tarpley, Stanford, LB
Jared Tevis, Arizona, DB
Shaq Thompson, Washington, LB
Tony Washington, Oregon, DE
Trae Waynes, Michigan State, DB
P.J. Williams, Florida State, DB
Leonard Williams, USC, DE
Ramik Wilson, Georgia, LB
Gabe Wright, Auburn, DT


By conference: Pac-12 18, SEC 16, Big 12 13, ACC 12, Big Ten 10, American Athletic 4, Independents 4, Mountain West 3, Conference USA 1.

By position: Tackles 10, Ends 23, Linebackers 24, Defensive Backs 24.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services