0 Shares Print The two-week stretch of watch list season, when the committees that hand out college football’s national awards provide fans with a bit of conversational fodder each July, came to an end Friday. Sixteen national awards tabbed a combined 988 college football players as candidates for their end-of-the-year prizes. The lists have become so exhaustively inclusive that names that don’t make cut are more notable than those that do. This year’s lists mentioned Big Ten players 116 times, many of them more than once. Defensive ends Joey Bosa and Shilique Calhoun led the way by appearing on four lists each. Every team in the league landed at least one player on one of the lists, and all but Northwestern had at least two representatives. There were still a few more players left off their respective lists who have reason to feel slighted or a little extra motivation when training camps begin in a couple of weeks. It’s difficult to nail down every candidate in the country, but here are a few oversights we think the voting committee might want to keep in consideration when the season gets started. Ohio State LB Darron Lee Lee, a redshirt freshman in 2014, made an immediate impact on the Buckeyes defense last fall. He had 80 tackles (16.5 for loss) and two interceptions in his rookie season. He was arguably Ohio State’s best defensive player during its playoff run, which is why it’s puzzling to not see his name on the watch lists for the Butkus Award (best linebacker) and Chuck Bednarik Award (best overall defender). Lee did make the cut for the Lombardi and Nargurski awards, given to the best lineman or linebacker and best defensive player, respectively. …
Continue Reading: Big Ten watch list snubs – Big Ten Blog – ESPN
