The Football Writers Association of America announced today that defensive end T.J. Parker, cornerback Avieon Terrell and defensive lineman Peter Woods have been named as three of 60 candidates on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented annually to the national defensive player of the year. Additional information from the FWAA is included below.
DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America released its 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List today, selecting three returning FWAA All-Americans among 60 defensive standouts as contenders for the national defensive player of the year. The list contains players from 41 different schools in eight Division I FBS conferences plus Independents.
Six of the top 15 leaders in sacks from a year ago, a player whose total tackles were second in the nation along with one of the top interception leaders highlight the list that has just over half of its selections from the Southeastern (18) and Big Ten (14) Conferences.
The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce four finalists for the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy in mid-to-late November, and the winner will be revealed at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 8 in Charlotte, N.C.
The three returning FWAA All-Americans all hail from the Big Ten with two from Indiana, part of a Hoosiers trio on the list. Indiana linebacker Aidan Fisher was 22nd nationally last season with 9.6 tackles per game and earning first-team FWAA honors while spearheading the nation’s surprise team from the defensive side along with teammate and second-team safety D’Angelo Ponds. Caleb Downs, the outstanding safety for defending College Football Playoff National Champion Ohio State, was also a first-teamer. Indiana defensive end Mikail Kamara, one of the country’s top sack artists last year, and Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles complete their teams’ listings among the five Big Ten schools that have at least two representatives (Oregon with three, Illinois and Penn State with two each). Minnesota’s Koi Perich, who tied for fourth in the nation last season with five interceptions, is another top safety and, along with Downs and Ponds, are three of only eight safeties to make the list.
By position, the list includes 21 linebackers, 11 defensive ends/edge rushers, 10 cornerbacks, 10 defensive tackles and the eight safeties.
Georgia leads the field with four members including two from its secondary in safety KJ Bolden and cornerback Daylen Everette. Linebacker CJ Allen and defensive tackle Christen Miller complete the Bulldogs’ foursome. Two other SEC rivals, Alabama and Texas, each have three players on the list to tie Oregon and Clemson for the second-highest team totals. The Crimson Tide’s bookends up front, Tim Keenan III and LT Overton, are on the list along with linebacker Deontae Lawson. The trio from Texas, a national semifinalist last season, are defensive end Colin Simmons, linebacker Anthony Hill and safety Michael Taaffe. The SEC’s 18 players hail from 11 different programs.
South Carolina defensive end Dylan Stewart, a dynamic sophomore edge rusher whose 6.5 sacks last year placed him on the FWAA’s Freshman All-America team, is on the list hoping to model the success of Kyle Kennard, the Gamecocks’ edge rusher who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy last season. Texas A&M’s Will Lee III is one of the country’s top cornerbacks. LSU linebacker Whit Weeks was a total tackles leader (15th) at 9.6 per game.
Notre Dame, which had the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner in safety Xavier Watts, has two watch list selections in cornerback Leonard Moore and linebacker Drayk Bowen. Red Murdock, who had the nation’s second-highest tackles count last season behind since-graduated teammate and FWAA All-American Shaun Dolac, represents the Bulls and the Mid-American Conference.
Jason Henderson, a two-time FWAA All-American linebacker at Old Dominion, returns to the list after missing the last 11 games of the 2024 season due to injury. Henderson is 139 total tackles away from the NCAA career record as he heads into the 2025 season. He and James Madison defensive tackle Immanuel Bush and Louisiana defensive end Jordan Lawson represent the Sun Belt Conference.
The Big 12’s top returning tackler and its preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Jacob Rodriguez of Texas Tech, was third nationally in solo tackles last season with 77 and 12th in total tackles (9.8 pg). He is one of two Red Raiders, along with defensive tackle and UCF transfer Lee Hunter. The list also includes some of the finest secondary players in the country in the Iowa State tandem of safety Jeremiah Cooper and cornerback Jontez Williams, along with TCU safety Bud Clark.
The Big 12 has 10 total selections, followed by the ACC (7), Mountain West and Sun Belt (3 each), American and Independents (2 each) and the Mid-American (1).
Among other members, Trey White of San Diego State was fifth among all FBS players in sacks last season with 12.5, and makes the list along with other top-15 sack leaders in Clemson’s T.J. Parker (11.0), Ole Miss’ Suntarine Perkins and Oregon’s Matayo Uiagalelei (both 10.5), and Indiana’s Kamara and Boise State’s Jayden Virgin-Morgan (both with 10.0). White, also the nation’s top returner in tackles-for-loss (18.5, seventh in 2024) and Virgin-Morgan are two of the three Mountain West Conference representatives along with San Jose State linebacker Jordan Pollard.
Oregon linebackers Bryce Boettcher and Matayo Uiagalelei make an impressive pair on the list along with its standout safety Dillon Thieneman, a transfer from Purdue who was fifth nationally in solo tackles with 70. Clemson can claim one of the country’s top defensive fronts with defensive tackle Peter Woods in the middle and Parker out at end; its third member is cornerback Avieon Terrell. Pitt linebacker Kyle Louis aims to bolster the Panthers’ defense this season.
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 Bronko Nagurski 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 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List:
2025 BRONKO NAGURSKI PRESEASON WATCH LIST (60)
LB CJ Allen, Georgia
DE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami
DT Caleb Banks, Florida
LB Bryce Boettcher, Oregon
S KJ Bolden, Georgia
LB Drayk Bowen, Notre Dame
DT Immanuel Bush, James Madison
S Bud Clark, TCU
S Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State
DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
S Caleb Downs, Ohio State
DT Zane Durant, Penn State
CB Daylen Everette, Georgia
DE Keldric Faulk, Auburn
LB Aiden Fisher, Indiana
DT C.J. Fite, Arizona State
DT Aaron Graves, Iowa
CB A.J. Harris, Penn State
LB Jason Henderson, Old Dominion
LB Anthony Hill, Texas
LB Sam Howard, Tulane
DT Lee Hunter, Texas Tech
LB Gabe Jacas, Illinois
DE Mikail Kamara, Indiana
DE Tim Keenan III, Alabama
LB Jack Kelly, BYU
LB Deontae Lawson, Alabama
DE Jordan Lawson, Louisiana
CB Will Lee III, Texas A&M
LB Kip Lewis, Oklahoma
LB Kyle Louis, Pitt
CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee
DT Christen Miller, Georgia
CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame
LB Red Murdock, Buffalo
S Isaiah Nwokobia, SMU
DE LT Overton, Alabama
DE T.J. Parker, Clemson
S Koi Perich, Minnesota
LB Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss
LB Jordan Pollard, San Jose State
CB D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana
CB Chandler Rivers, Duke
DT Landon Robinson, Navy
LB Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech
LB Austin Romaine, Kansas State
CB Xavier Scott, Illinois
DE Colin Simmons, Texas
DE Dylan Stewart, South Carolina
LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State
S Michael Taaffe, Texas
CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson
S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
LB Keaton Thomas, Baylor
LB Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon
DE Jayden Virgin-Morgan, Boise State
LB Whit Weeks, LSU
DE Trey White, San Diego State
CB Jontez Williams, Iowa State
DT 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 Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists. 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 (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients since 1935.
