Tiger linemen Peter Woods, Blake Miller named to national award lists

Peter Woods is on watch for being the nation's top defender this year.

Press Release · Tuesday, July 30 2024

Clemson linemen Peter Woods and Blake Miller were named to national watch lists on Tuesday.

Woods made the list for National Defensive Player of the Year, the Bronko Nagurski:

The Football Writers Association of America released its 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List today, selecting 75 defensive standouts from 56 schools in nine Division I FBS conferences plus Independents as contenders for the national defensive player of the year.

The watch list roster includes last year’s winner, Xavier Watts of Notre Dame, plus five other players returning from last season’s FWAA All-America team. Two of the top three tacklers from last season, both All-Americans, are back in the mix along with three of the top five interception leaders and six secondary players who had at least five interceptions last year.

The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2024 trophy on Nov. 20 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 9 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C.

Watts, who tied for the national lead with seven interceptions in 2023 as a first-team All-America safety, headlines the All-Americans as the returning honoree. Georgia safety Malaki Starks, a Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist last season, is also back from the first team following a season where he was Georgia’s fourth-leading tackler and had seven PBU’s. Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, third in the nation in tackles per game at 12.2, was also on the first team last season.

Two two-time All-Americans top the list as well. Jason Henderson, a two-time All-America linebacker at Old Dominion, is featured returning from the second team along with two-time defensive tackle Howard Cross III of Notre Dame. Liberty safety Brylan Green is the other returning All-American. There are 22 linebackers on the watch list, the most at any position, with Higgins and Henderson leading the way. The ODU senior led the nation in tackles per game last year at 14.2 and is 142 total tackles away from the NCAA record as he heads into the 2024 season. Green, who tied for sixth in the nation with five interceptions last year, is one of 16 safeties, tied for second-most at any position.

Ohio State is tops among all programs with four selections that include one of the offseason’s top transfer players in Caleb Downs, coming in from Alabama. Downs, a safety, anchors the Buckeyes’ secondary along with cornerback Denzel Burke. Defensive end JT Tuimoloau and defensive tackle Tyleik Williams are Ohio State’s lineman from the list. Iowa ties Georgia for second among the teams with three selections – Higgins and fellow linebacker Nick Jackson along with cornerback Sebastian Castro. Besides Starks, Georgia has linebacker Smael Mondon and defensive end Mykel Williams represented.

Defending national champion Michigan has defensive tackle Mason Graham on the list to go with cornerback Will Johnson. There are nine Big Ten schools represented within the 16-man contingent from that conference. Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan and Oregon (two) have 11 of the 16 spots. Other standouts are Dillon Thieneman of Purdue, who tied for second nationally with six interceptions last year, and Wisconsin linebacker Hunter Wohler, tied for 21st in the FBS with 9.2 tackles per game.

Georgia’s three leads the SEC’s conference-leading 19 overall selections buoyed by two apiece from Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M. The SEC’s new members blend right in with two apiece on the list. Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman tied Thieneman with six picks in 2023 and joins Sooners playmaking linebacker Danny Stutsman, who was 15th in tackles for loss last season averaging 1.3 per game. Texas sports safety Jahdae Barron and linebacker Anthony Hill. Twelve different SEC schools have a player on the list, including three of the nation’s best pass rushers on the ends in Texas A&M defensive end and Purdue transfer Nick Scourton (0.91 sacks/gm, 6th in FBS), Tennessee’s James Pearce (10.0 total sacks, 11th in FBS) and LSU linebacker Harold Perkins.

As a list by conference, beyond the SEC and Big Ten are a dozen players from the Big 12. Oklahoma State’s premier linebacking pair of Nick Martin and Collin Oliver are on the list – Martin was 15th nationally in total tackles last year with 10.0 per game – and Big 12 newcomer Arizona also has a duo in cornerback Tacario Davis and linebacker Jacob Manu. Much-heralded cornerback Travis Hunter of Colorado makes the list, and Iowa State lists both its safeties in Jeremiah Cooper, who had five picks last year, and Beau Freyler. Utah’s Junior Tafuna is regarded as one of the country’s best defensive tackles.

The ACC has seven players represented followed by the American (5), Mountain West (4), Sun Belt (4), Conference USA (3), Mid-American (3), Independents (2). There is not a selection from the two Pac-12 programs.

Ashton Gillotte of Louisville, another premier pass rusher with 11.0 sacks from 2023, is one of two players back from last year’s All-ACC First Team along Virginia safety Jonas Sanker. Miami linebacker Francisco Mauigoa tied for ninth nationally with 1.4 TFL’s per game in 2023. Clemson defensive end Peter Woods is the only member from last season’s FWAA Freshman All-America team.

Among other leaders, Boise State defensive end Ahmed Hassanein was sixth nationally last season with 12.5 total sacks and Miami (Ohio) linebacker Matt Salopek was 12th in the FBS with 143 tackles last season.

By position, the list includes 22 linebackers, 16 defensive ends, 16 safeties, 12 defensive tackles and nine cornerbacks.

Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. As in previous years, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time.

Following is the complete 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List

2024 BRONKO NAGURSKI PRESEASON WATCH LIST (75)

DT Bear Alexander, USC LB Anthony Hill, Texas LB Harold Perkins, LSU

S Jahdae Barron, Texas S Maxen Hook, Toledo LB Colin Ramos, Navy

LB Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon S Jack Howell, Colorado State CB Shavon Revel, East Carolina

DE Tyler Batty, BYU DT Lee Hunter, UCF DE Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina

LB CJ Bazile, Liberty CB Travis Hunter, Colorado LB Matt Salopek, Miami (Ohio)

S Billy Bowman, Oklahoma DE Landon Jackson, Arkansas S Jonas Sanker, Virginia

CB Cobee Bryant, Kansas LB Nick Jackson, Iowa DE Nic Scourton, Texas A&M

CB Denzel Burke, Ohio State DT Patrick Jenkins, Tulane S Malaki Starks, Georgia

DE Abdul Carter, Penn State LB Nate Johnson, App State LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma

CB Sebastian Castro, Iowa CB Will Johnson, Michigan DT Junior Tafuna, Utah

S Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State S Ike Larsen, Utah State S Dillon Thieneman, Purdue

DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati LB Deontae Lawson, Alabama DE JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State

DT Howard Cross III, Notre Dame LB Jacob Manu, Arizona DE Shemar Turner, Texas A&M

CB Tacario Davis, Arizona LB Chandler Martin, Memphis S Jaden Voisin, South Alabama

S Caleb Downs, Ohio State LB Nick Martin, Oklahoma State DT Deone Walker, Kentucky

DE Joe Evans, UTSA LB Francisco Mauigoa, Miami DE Johnny Walker, Missouri

DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State LB Smael Mondon, Georgia LB Marques Watson-Trent, Georgia Southern

S Beau Freyler, Iowa State S Malachi Moore, Alabama S Xavier Watts, Notre Dame

DE Ashton Gillotte, Louisville LB Xander Mueller, Northwestern DE Maurice Westmoreland, UTEP

DT Mason Graham, Michigan CB Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon LB Debo Williams, South Carolina

S Brylan Green, Liberty DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss DE Mykel Williams, Georgia

CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky DE CJ Nunnally IV, Akron DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State

DE Ahmed Hassanein, Boise State LB Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State S Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin

LB Jason Henderson, Old Dominion DE James Pearce, Tennessee LB Jackson Woodard, UNLV

LB Jay Higgins, Iowa DT Aeneas Peeples, Virginia Tech (TR Duke) DE Peter Woods, Clemson

The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the five finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.

The FWAA has chosen 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. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.

Miller, who's also garnered preseason All-America honors like Woods, is on the Outland Trophy list for the top interior linemen:

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America has announced the preseason watch list for the 2024 Outland Trophy, recognizing 75 returning standout interior linemen representing all 10 Division I FBS conferences and independents. The 2024 season will close with the award's 79th winner being feted in Omaha and the watch list offers a talented field of players alongside one returning FWAA All-American.

The recipient of the 2024 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Dec. 12, 2024. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 22, 2025.

Howard Cross III of Notre Dame, a two-time FWAA All-American at defensive tackle, is the lone returning All-American on the preseason watch list. Notre Dame was 26th nationally at stopping the run last season giving up only 119.0 rushing yards per game with Cross in the middle. None of last year’s Outland Trophy semifinalists return this season.

Georgia has the most representatives with four, one of them a fellow defensive tackle in Nazir Stackhouse. The Bulldogs were 18th against the run last year giving up 113.6 ypg. The three others from Georgia are off the offensive front - guards Dylan Fairchild and Tate Ratledge alongside offensive tackle Xavier Truss – that helped the Bulldogs list fifth in total offense last season (496.5 yards per game) and 20th among FBS teams in rushing offense (191.2 ypg). Ratledge is the only unanimous All-SEC First Team member returning from 2023.

Alabama, Ohio State and USC are next listing three players each with one defender and two from the offensive line, and 13 schools have at least one pair of players represented. The Southeastern Conference, with Kentucky, LSU and Missouri each having a pair of players, leads the conferences with 18 total players. Ohio State and USC make up almost half the Big Ten Conference’s 13-man roster spread among eight league schools. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference each have nine.

Alabama center Parker Brailsford, a noted off-season transfer from last year’s College Football Playoff runner-up Washington, and guard Tyler Booker lead the Crimson Tide’s offensive line, and Tim Smith returns as an All-SEC defensive tackle. Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams just missed being an Outland Trophy semifinalist last season and plugs the Buckeyes’ defensive line. OSU's Donovan Jackson was a unanimous first team All-Big Ten guard last season and has All-Big Ten offensive tackle Josh Fryar alongside him. USC defensive tackle Bear Alexander is one of the keys to an improved Trojans defense. The Trojans – fifth nationally in passing offense last season and 10th in total offense – take their high-powered offense into the Big Ten with two starters back on the line in center Jonah Monheim and guard Emmanuel Pregnon.

Texas, which had last year’s Outland Trophy winner in defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat, shifts to a watch list member on offense as tackle Kelvin Banks bolsters its offense that moves into the SEC with 2023’s ninth-best total offense unit at 477.5 ypg. Other players of interest from the SEC are Tennessee center Cooper Mays, LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell and Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker. Banks, Mays and Campbell all earned Outland Trophy votes last season.

Defending national champion Michigan has its two outstanding defensive tackles represented with Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. Cross is one of two players from Notre Dame along with fellow defensive tackle Rylie Mills. The Fighting Irish would likely have had a third member, but center Zeke Correll transferred to NC State and joins the ACC's list. Florida State, undefeated in the regular season last year, has a pair of tackles on each side. Darius Washington is the only All-ACC First Team lineman returning this season and Joshua Farmer is at defensive tackle.

Oklahoma State punctuates the Big 12’s representatives with center Joe Michalski and offensive tackle Dalton Cooper, mainstays last year who helped running back Ollie Gordon II lead the nation in rushing. Cincinnati defensive tackle Dontay Corleone comes off a fine season and is one of two Bearcats players along with guard Luke Kandra. West Virginia offensive tackle Wyatt Milum is gaining preseason All-America praise.

Clay Webb of Jacksonville State earned a handful of All-America honors last season and is the headliner for the second-year FBS program and for Conference USA. UNLV, a surprise in the Mountain West last year, won’t be this year with all-conference offensive tackle Tiger Shanks and Jalen St. John on the watch list this season. Western Michigan center Jacob Gideon is the only first team All-MAC offensive lineman returning this season.

The conference breakdown is as follows. Beyond the 18 from the SEC hailing from 10 different programs, there are 13 from the Big Ten, nine from the ACC and Big 12, seven from the Mountain West, five from the American, four from Conference USA, the Mid-American and Sun Belt have three each, and the Pac-12 and Independents have two each.

There are 24 offensive tackles on this year’s list with 19 defensive tackles and 18 guards to go with 14 centers, and 57 of the 133 Football Bowl Subdivision schools are represented.

The FWAA will announce the Outland Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 20, and those players will then be paired down to three finalists announced on Nov. 26. The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from those finalists who will be part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.

Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. For a second year now, the FWAA will announce an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time.

2024 OUTLAND TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST (75)

DT Bear Alexander, USC OG AJ Gillie, Louisiana C Jonah Monheim, USC

OT Kelvin Banks, Texas OG Michael Gonzalez, Louisville DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss

OT Bryce Benhart, Nebraska DT Mason Graham, Michigan C Justin Osborne, SMU

DT Jordan Bertagnole, Wyoming DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan OT Shiyazh Pete, New Mexico State

OG Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M OT Joshua Gray, Oregon State OG Emmanuel Pregnon, USC

OG Gabe Blair, North Texas DT B.J. Green, Colorado OG Tate Ratledge, Georgia

OG Tyler Booker, Alabama OG Zane Herring, South Florida OT Jalen Rivers, Miami

C Parker Brailsford, Alabama C Branson Hickman, Oklahoma OT Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona

DT Brandon Brown, UTSA OG Xavier Hill, Memphis OT Tiger Shanks, UNLV

OT Will Campbell, LSU OT Reid Holskey, Miami (Ohio) DT Tim Smith, Alabama

OT Kage Casey, Boise State DT Lee Hunter, UCF OG Jalen St. John, UNLV

OT Dalton Cooper, Oklahoma State OG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State DT Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia

DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati DT Patrick Jenkins, Tulane DT Junior Tafuna, Utah

OT Ajani Cornelius, Oregon OG Cam'Ron Johnson, Missouri OT Makilan Thomas, Arkansas State

C Zeke Correll, NC State OT Emery Jones, LSU DT Soane Toia, San Jose State

C Eli Cox, Kentucky C Logan Jones, Iowa OT Ozzy Trapilo, Boston College

DT Howard Cross III, Notre Dame OG Luke Kandra, Cincinnati OT Xavier Truss, Georgia

OT Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota OG Daniel King, Troy C Mose Vavao, Fresno State

OT Fa'alili Fa'amoe, Washington State OG Quantavious Leslie, WKU DT Deone Walker, Kentucky

OG Dylan Fairchild, Georgia C Cooper Mays, Tennessee OT Darius Washington, Florida State

DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State OT Armand Membou, Missouri OG Clay Webb, Jax State

C Weston Franklin, Georgia Tech C Joe Michalski, Oklahoma State C Jordan White, Liberty

OT Josh Fryar, Ohio State OT Blake Miller, Clemson DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State

C Jacob Gardner, Colorado State DT Rylie Mills, Notre Dame OT Alex Wollschlaeger, Bowling Green

C Jacob Gideon, Western Michigan OT Wyatt Milum, West Virginia OG Sal Wormley, Penn State

The Outland Trophy, celebrating 79 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.

The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.