DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America has announced the preseason watch list for the 2026 Outland Trophy, recognizing 68 returning standout interior linemen representing all 10 of the FBS conferences plus Independents. The watch list features players spread among 49 different Division I FBS programs and includes two returning first-team FWAA All-Americans.
The semifinalists for the Outland Trophy will be announced on Nov. 18, followed by a joint announcement with ESPN of the three finalists on Nov. 24. The 81st recipient of the Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN in December. 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. 27, 2027.
There are 21 offensive tackles on this year’s list to lead the individual positions to go with 18 guards, 16 defensive tackles and 13 centers. The 49 programs represented on the list compose just over one-third of the total FBS (138) schools.
The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC each have 14 players on this year’s watch list. But it is the Big Ten that hosts the only two returning FWAA All-Americans among its ranks.
Oregon senior center Iapani Laloulu leads his Ducks along the offensive line. Laloulu was on the Outland Trophy watch list last season and later became a semifinalist for the award following his first-team FWAA All-American honor. Oregon has an Outland Trophy history, as Ducks offensive tackle Penei Sewell won the award in 2019. Two defensive tackles, seniors Bear Alexander and A’Mauri Washington, also make the list, as Oregon ties Ohio State and Texas Tech among the team leaders with its trio of players.
Indiana’s undefeated run to the 2025 College Football Playoff Championship was sparked by its skill position players being freed up by its stellar offensive line play. Senior offensive tackle Carter Smith, a mainstay on that line and the other returning FWAA first-team All-American, returns to the list after being a semifinalist for the award last season. No Indiana player has ever won the Outland Trophy. Hoosiers teammate Tyrique Tucker, a senior defensive tackle, is also on the watch list.
Ohio State’s offensive line forms quite a bulwark for opponents to work against this season, as reflected here with three members on the watch list – senior center Carson Hinzman plays in the middle between guards Luke Montgomery and Austin Siereveld. That trio matches Texas Tech for the team-lead tie. Texas Tech has center Sheridan Wilson on the list alongside offensive tackle Howard Sampson and opposite defensive tackle A.J. Holmes, who was named the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in a media poll released at last month’s Big 12 Media Days.
Texas Tech and BYU dominated the preseason All-Big 12 defensive unit with a combined nine of the 13 players on that roster. One of the BYU defenders, senior defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa, is on this Outland list along with senior center Bruce Mitchell. The Big 12 also hosts a pair of players from conference members Cincinnati, Houston and TCU. Houston guard Shadre Hurst returns to the watch list after an all-conference season at Tulane in 2025. Arizona State defensive tackle C.J. Fite is also a returning member from last year's watch list.
The SEC has three schools with a pair of players, including Texas, which has earned two of the last three Outland Trophy winners. Junior offensive tackle Trevor Goosby hopes to have a similar season to fellow offensive tackle and former Longhorn Kelvin Banks Jr., the 2024 Outland Trophy winner in his junior season. Next to Goosby is Brandon Baker, Texas’ second watch list honoree.
Georgia and Ole Miss, which was second in the FBS in total offense last season, also have two players each among the SEC schools. Missouri senior offensive tackle Cayden Green is back on the watch list, returning to block for Tigers running back Ahmad Hardy, who was second in the nation last season in rushing yards and tied for the FBS lead with 16 rushing touchdowns. Notre Dame, one season after seeing Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combine to rush for 2,046 yards and 29 touchdowns, has a pair of returning offensive linemen on the list in offensive tackle Anthonie Knapp and guard Guerby Lambert on the list. LSU's Jordan Seaton is back on the list after transferring from Colorado.
In all there are 13 programs that have a tandem of players on the watch list, including three from the ACC in Miami, Pitt and SMU. Miami’s players, runners-up in last season’s College Football Playoff, are on each side of the line in offensive tackle Matthew McCoy and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. SMU offensive tackle PJ Williams returns off last year's watch list.
Army, fourth in the FBS programs in rushing last season at 254.9 yards per game, has its line leader back in center Brady Small, a senior and a rare four-year starter at West Point at any position. Small was on last season's watch list as well.
Six players on the watch list roster are transfers going into their first seasons with their current program.
The conference breakdown beyond the combined 42 players from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 hailing from 26 different programs, are 10 players from the ACC, three each from the American, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Sun Belt, two in the Mid-American and one from Conference USA. Two players are from Independents.
The FWAA will announce the Outland Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 18, and those players will then be pared down to three finalists announced on Nov. 24. 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 and edge rushers are not eligible.
Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. For a third 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.
Following is the complete 2026 Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List:
| 2026 OUTLAND TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST (68) | ||
| DT Bear Alexander, Oregon | C Zach Greenberg, James Madison | C Mark Nabou Jr., Texas A&M |
| OT Ryan Baer, Pittsburgh | OT Earnest Greene, Georgia | G Alani Noa, USC |
| G Brandon Baker, Texas | OT Lance Heard, Kentucky | OT John Pastore, Kansas State |
| C Joshua Bates, SMU | C Carson Hinzman, Ohio State | G Kade Pieper, Iowa |
| C Drew Bobo, Georgia | DT A.J. Holmes Jr., Texas Tech | C Lance Robinson, Louisville |
| DT Brian Booker, New Mexico | G Shadre Hurst, Houston | OT Howard Sampson, Texas Tech |
| OT Tristan Bounds, Arizona | G Greg Johnson, Minnesota | OT Chad Schuster, Western Michigan |
| C Austin Boyd, UNLV | G Noah Josey, Virginia | OT Jordan Seaton, LSU |
| G Malachi Carney, Georgia Tech | OT Anthonie Knapp, Notre Dame | G Austin Siereveld, Ohio State |
| G Roger Carreon, Boise State | G Patrick Kutas, Ole Miss | G Jalen Slappy, Marshall |
| G Michael Carroll, Alabama | DT Deijon Laffitte, Fresno State | C Brady Small, Army |
| G Caleb Cook, South Florida | C Iapani Laloulu, Oregon | OT Carter Smith, Indiana |
| DT Kemari Copeland, Virginia Tech | G Guerby Lambert, Notre Dame | OT Andrew Sprague, Michigan |
| OT Joe Cotton, Cincinnati | OT Trevor Lauck, Iowa | DT David Stone, Oklahoma |
| C Steven Demboski, Delaware | DT Khalil Laufau, Houston | DT Keanu Tanuvasa, BYU |
| DT Ansel Din-Mbuh, TCU | C Jimmy Liston, Utah State | OT Ben Taylor-Whitfield, TCU |
| DT CJ Doggette Jr., Florida Atlantic | OT Evan Malcore, Miami (Ohio) | G Evan Tengesdahl, Cincinnati |
| DT Will Echoles, Ole Miss | OT Matthew McCoy, Miami | DT Tyrique Tucker, Indiana |
| DT C.J. Fite, Arizona State | C Bruce Mitchell, BYU | DT A'Mauri Washington, Oregon |
| DT Chris Forbes, Old Dominion | G Wendell Moe Jr., Tennessee | G BJ Williams, Pittsburgh |
| OT Jack Foster, Nevada | G Luke Montgomery, Ohio State | OT PJ Williams, SMU |
| OT Trevor Goosby, Texas | DT Ahmad Moten Sr., Miami | C Sheridan Wilson, Texas Tech |
| OT Cayden Green, Missouri | OT Ben Murawski, Michigan State | |
The Outland Trophy, celebrating its 81st year 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 (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored nearly 1,000 recipients since 1935.
Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a three-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2026 preseason watch list calendar:
Wed., Aug. 5: John Mackey Award
Thu., Aug. 6: Rimington Trophy
Fri., Aug. 7: Lou Groza Award
Mon., Aug. 10: Paul Hornung Award
Tue., Aug. 11: Allstate Wuerffel Trophy
Wed., Aug. 12: Paycom Jim Thorpe Award
Thu., Aug. 13: Butkus Award
Fri., Aug. 14: Ray Guy Award
Mon., Aug. 17: Walter Camp Award
Tue., Aug. 18: Doak Walker Award
Wed., Aug. 19: Biletnikoff Award
Thu., Aug. 20: Davey O’Brien Award
Fri., Aug. 21: Bednarik Award
For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA and Instagram @TheNCFAA.
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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest. For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,200 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.