Two Oklahoma Players Land on Watch List for College Football's Top Defender
How much has Brent Venables improved the Oklahoma defense?
Two Sooners are among 75 college football standouts to land a spot on the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which goes to the nation’s top defensive player.
Linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman made the watch list this year.
This year’s watch list includes last year’s winner, Notre Dame defensive back Xavier Watts — one of just two players in the country last year with more interceptions (7) than Bowman (6).
Bowman returned three of his picks for touchdowns, however, leading all of college football in that category, as well as in return yardage (238) — both school records.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior from Denton, TX, has started 29 of his 35 games at OU, including all 13 last season, when he made a career-high 63 tackles, three tackles for loss and four passes defensed.
Bowman received first-team All-America honors last year and also landed a spot on this year's preseason All-SEC first team.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bowman posted a 54.1 overall defensive grade as a true freshman in 2021, a 73.3 as a junior and a 68.2 last year. His 2022 coverage grade of 82.3 ranked 39th among Power 5 defensive backs. He played 781 total snaps last year, per PFF, which ranked second on the defense behind cornerback Woodi Washington’s 851.
Stutsman, a 6-2, 241-pound senior from Windermere, FL, led the Sooners in tackles and was among the national leaders each of the last two seasons (125 and 104, respectively). With 267 career stops in his 35 games (25 starts), he’s on the verge of cracking the school’s all-time top 10. He also has 28.0 TFLs with three career interceptions, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, eight passes defensed and seven quarterback sacks.
Stutsman received second-team All-America honors and first-team All-Big 12 last year. He also landed on the preseason All-SEC first team this year.
Stutsman played 722 snaps last year and his overall defensive grade of 71.8 from PFF ranked 29th among Power 5 linebackers nationally.
The inaugural Nagurski Trophy was awarded in 1993, but the Sooners have a strong history, with safety Roy Williams landing OU’s first in 2001 and cornerback Derrick Strait receiving the award in 2003.