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Football
Sanker Named to Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia safety Jonas Sanker has been named to the 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) announced Tuesday (July 30). Sanker was one of 75 Division-I FBS players that are in contention for the National Defensive Player of the Year award. Additionally, he is one of seven ACC players to be included on this year’s list.
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, North Carolina.
In 2023, Sanker was named a First Team All-ACC selection by both the conference office and the Associated Press. He led the Cavaliers in total tackles (107), pass breakups (11) and forced fumbles (3). Sanker also led UVA in tackles in eight of its 12 games last season, including when he recorded a career-high12 tackles against James Madison and Boston College.
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.
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.
| 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 |