Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III leads a field of 80 college players on the 2015 Bednarik Award watch list, but if the Wildcats star performs like he did last season, he should be positioned as the front-runner for the award once again.
Wright won the Bednarik Award (top defensive player) last year. He made 163 tackles and 29 tackles for loss as the 2014 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
The field of candidates looking to unseat Wright includes Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa, Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun, Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman and Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, all of whom were semifinalists for the award in 2014.
This year's semifinalists will be announced on Nov. 23, and the winner will be named Dec. 10.
Schedule of award watch list releases:
Tuesday, July 7: Bednarik Award and Maxwell Award
Wednesday, July 8: Mackey Award and Rimington Trophy
Thursday, July 9: Lou Groza Award and Ray Guy Award
Friday, July 10: Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy
Monday, July 13: Jim Thorpe Award
Tuesday, July 14: Butkus Award and Rotary Lombardi Award
Wednesday, July 15: Biletnikoff Award and Wuerffel Trophy
Thursday, July 16: Davey O'Brien Award and Doak Walker Award
Friday, July 17: Walter Camp Award
2015 Chuck Bednarik Award watch list
Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson
Kevin Anderson, LB, Stanford
Budda Baker, S, Washington
Dante Barnett, S, Kansas State
Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
Kendell Beckwith, LB, LSU
Vince Biegel, LB, Wisconsin
Zeek Bigger, LB, East Carolina
Andrew Billings, NT, Baylor
Quin Blanding, S, Virginia
Briean Boddy-Calhoun, CB, Minnesota
Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
Kentrell Brothers, LB, Missouri
Kelby Brown, LB, Duke
DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon
Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State
Michael Caputo, S, Wisconsin
Lloyd Carrington, CB, Arizona State
Jeremy Cash, S, Duke
Brandon Chubb, LB, Wake Forest
Kenny Clark, DT, UCLA
Maliek Collins, DT, Nebraska
Kamalei Correa, DE, Boise State
Su'a Cravens, LB, USC
Ed Davis, LB, Michigan State
Sheldon Day, DT, Notre Dame
Kyler Fackrell, LB, Utah State
Leonard Floyd, LB, Georgia
Josh Forrest, LB, Kentucky
Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech
Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
Adam Gotsis, DT, Georgia Tech
Darius Hamilton, DL, Rutgers
Vernon Hargreaves III, CB, Florida
Tylor Harris, DT, Wake Forest
Myles Jack, LB, UCLA
William Jackson, CB, Houston
Adoree' Jackson, CB, USC
Jordan Jenkins, LB, Georgia
Chris Jones, DT, Mississippi State
Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia
Bronson Kaufusi, DE, BYU
Derrick Kindred, S, TCU
Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson
William Likely, CB, Maryland
Curt Maggitt, LB, Tennessee
Blake Martinez, LB, Stanford
Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple
Cassanova McKinzy, LB, Auburn
Jalen Mills, S, LSU
Antonio Morrison, LB, Florida
Eric Murray, CB, Minnesota
Dadi Nicolas, DE, Virginia Tech
Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss
Jared Norris, LB, Utah
Shawn Oakman, DE, Baylor
Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Oklahoma State
Will Parks, S, Arizona
Joshua Perry, LB, Ohio State
Davion Pierson, DT, TCU
Reggie Ragland, LB, Alabama
Jalen Ramsey, DB, Florida State
Sheldon Rankins, DE, Louisville
Will Redmond, CB, Mississippi State
Pete Robertson, LB, Texas Tech
A'Shawn Robinson, DL, Alabama
Mike Rose, DE, NC State
KeiVarae Russell, CB, Notre Dame
Zack Sanchez, CB, Oklahoma
Jovan Santos-Knox, LB, Massachusetts
Terrance Smith, LB, Florida State
Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame
Eric Striker, LB, Oklahoma
Cameron Sutton, CB, Tennessee
Charles Tapper, DE, Oklahoma
Darian Thompson, S, Boise State
Jeremy Timpf, LB, Army
Nick Vigil, LB, Utah State
Scooby Wright III, LB, Arizona
Anthony Zettel, DT, Penn State
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