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 | LB Sam Howard, Tulane | LB Jordan Pollard, San Jose State |
| DE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami | DT Lee Hunter, Texas Tech | CB D'Angelo Ponds, Indiana |
| DT Caleb Banks, Florida | LB Gabe Jacas, Illinois | CB Chandler Rivers, Duke |
| LB Bryce Boettcher, Oregon | DE Mikail Kamara, Indiana | DT Landon Robinson, Navy |
| S KJ Bolden, Georgia | DE Tim Keenan III, Alabama | LB Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech |
| LB Drayk Bowen, Notre Dame | LB Jack Kelly, BYU | LB Austin Romaine, Kansas State |
| DT Immanuel Bush, James Madison | LB Deontae Lawson, Alabama | CB Xavier Scott, Illinois |
| S Bud Clark, TCU | DE Jordan Lawson, Louisiana | DE Colin Simmons, Texas |
| S Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State | CB Will Lee III, Texas A&M | DE Dylan Stewart, South Carolina |
| DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati | LB Kip Lewis, Oklahoma | LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State |
| S Caleb Downs, Ohio State | LB Kyle Louis, Pitt | S Michael Taaffe, Texas |
| DT Zane Durant, Penn State | CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee | CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson |
| CB Daylen Everette, Georgia | DT Christen Miller, Georgia | S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon |
| DE Keldric Faulk, Auburn | CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame | LB Keaton Thomas, Baylor |
| LB Aiden Fisher, Indiana | LB Red Murdock, Buffalo | LB Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon |
| DT C.J. Fite, Arizona State | S Isaiah Nwokobia, SMU | DE Jayden Virgin-Morgan, Boise State |
| DT Aaron Graves, Iowa | DE LT Overton, Alabama | LB Whit Weeks, LSU |
| CB A.J. Harris, Penn State | DE T.J. Parker, Clemson | DE Trey White, San Diego State |
| LB Jason Henderson, Old Dominion | S Koi Perich, Minnesota | CB Jontez Williams, Iowa State |
| LB Anthony Hill, Texas | LB Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss | 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.
Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2025 preseason watch list calendar:
Tue., July 29: Outland Trophy/Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Wed., July 30: Paycom Jim Thorpe Award/Butkus Award
Thu., July 31: Paul Hornung Award/Allstate Wuerffel Trophy
Fri., Aug. 1: Lou Groza Award/Ray Guy Award
Mon., Aug. 4: Walter Camp Award
Tue., Aug. 5: Doak Walker Award
Wed., Aug. 6: Biletnikoff Award
Thu., Aug. 7: Davey O’Brien Award
Fri., Aug. 8: Mackey Award/Rimington Trophy
Mon., Aug. 11: Bednarik Award
For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
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Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.