Alabama football’s Raekwon Davis, Trevon Diggs, Anfernee Jennings and Dylan Moses have been named to the 2019 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list and Alex Leatherwood and Jedrick Wills were named to the Outland Trophy watch list.
The Alabama quartet is among 92 candidates from around the country named to the preseason list for Nagurski, recognizing the nation’s top defensive player. Jonathan Allen is the Crimson Tide’s lone recipient, collecting the honors in 2016.
Davis passed up on the NFL Draft to return for his final season. He has totaled 128 tackles, including 16.5 for a loss to go with 11 sacks and has added eight quarterback hurries in his three seasons.
Diggs has seen time in 34 career games with seven starts, including six starts a season ago before suffering a foot injury that kept him out for the remainder of the year.
Jennings put together a standout season in 2018, recording a team-high 11 pass breakups to go with his 51 tackles. He also added 14 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
Moses enters the 2019 season as one of the top-rated linebackers and defensive players overall. A second team All-American and finalist for the Butkus Award a season ago, Moses led the Crimson Tide with 86 tackles in 2018 and had 10 for loss with 3.5 sacks as a sophomore
Leatherwood and Wills are among 83 candidates for the Outland Trophy, given to the country’s top interior lineman. Five Crimson Tide players have won the award previously, including Chris Samuels (1999), Andre Smith (2008), Barrett Jones (2011), Cam Robinson (2016) and Quinnen Williams in 2018.
Leatherwood earned him All-SEC second team recognition in 2018 and his work helped the Alabama offensive line rank eighth nationally and first in the SEC in fewest sacks allowed at one per game on the way to being named a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, presented annually to college football’s top offensive line unit.
Wills anchored the right side of the line a season ago, starting all 15 games at right tackle and led all Alabama linemen with 50 knockdown blocks while allowing just one sack and one hit on the quarterback.
Award winners will be announced at the Charlotte Touchdown Club’s annual awards banquet in December.
