Big 12 lands 13 players on Bednarik Award watch list

The Chuck Bednarik watch list was announced earlier this week, and 13 members of the Big 12 were named to the list. This award is given to the best defensive player in college football.

The Bednarik Award is named after Chuck Bednarik, who was a 2x NFL Champion and 10x 1st Team All-Pro Linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949-1962. Chuck was the last player in NFL history to play both ways of the ball full-time. Bednarik is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.  This award was established in 1995.

The five most recent winners of the award are Payton Wilson (NC State), Will Anderson Jr ( Alabama ), Jordan Davis ( Georgia ), Zaven Collins (Tulsa), and Chase Young ( Ohio State ).

The Big 12 members that were nominated to the list this season are:

• CB Tacario Davis, Arizona
• DE Tyler Batty, BYU
• DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
• EDGE B.J. Green, Colorado
• CB Travis Hunter, Colorado
• S Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State
• CB Cobee Bryant, Kansas
• LB Austin Moore, Kansas State
• LB Nick Martin, Oklahoma State
• LB Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State
• LB Namdi Obiazor, TCU
• DT Lee Hunter, UCF
• DT Junior Tafuna, Utah