Joseph Ossai, Caden Sterns Named to Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List

Junior JACK Joseph Ossai and junior DB Caden Sterns are on the watch list for best defensive player in college football.

Texas Football junior JACK Joseph Ossai and junior DB Caden Sterns were named to the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy presented by LendingTree, the Football Writers Association of America and Charlotte Touchdown Club announced Tuesday. The Nagurski Trophy is awarded annually to the best defensive player in college football.

Longhorn Legends Derrick Johnson and Brian Orakpo are the two Longhorns to win the Nagurski Trophy, doing so in 2004 and 2008, respectively. Malcom Brown was also a finalist for the award in 2014. Tuesday’s announcement marked the second-straight year that Sterns was recognized on the trophy’s preseason watch list, and the first such recognition for Ossai.

Sterns, a Cibolo, Texas native, is a third-year defensive back who has played in 22 career games with 21 starts. Last season, he appeared in nine games, missing four due to injury. Despite missing time, Sterns still registered 58 tackles (43 solo), four tackles for loss, one sack and one pass break up. His sophomore season was capped by an eight-tackle day (six solo) against No. 11 Utah in the Valero Alamo Bowl. As a freshman, in addition to being a Thorpe Award semifinalist, he was the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-Big 12 honoree. He started the first 13 games of the 2018 season, making him UT’s first true freshman defensive back to start the first 13 games of his career since Blake Gideon in 2008. Sterns led the Longhorns with four interceptions, and also totaled 62 tackles (46 solo), three tackles for loss, one sack, four pass breakups and one blocked kick. Two of his interceptions came against TCU, making him just the third Longhorn true freshman ever with two interceptions in a game. Sterns has recorded at least five tackles on 14 occasions during his time at UT, highlighted by a career-best 12 tackles against Oklahoma State last season.

In addition to the Nagurski Trophy, Sterns has been recognized on the watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik and Jim Thorpe awards, and was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team last week.

Ossai, a Conroe, Texas native, is a third-year JACK who has played in 27 career games with 15 starts. Last season, he started all 13 games and led the Longhorns in total tackles (90), tackles for loss (13.5) and sacks (5.0). Ossai also registered two interceptions, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one blocked kick. He made at least eight tackles on eight occasions last year, the second-most by a Longhorn in a single season over the last 20 years (9 – Emmanuel Acho, 2011). Three times Ossai made at least nine tackles, including a career-high 10 (five solo) on the road against TCU. He capped his season by earning Defensive MVP honors in the Valero Alamo Bowl after registering nine tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks against No. 11 Utah. His three sacks were the most by a Longhorn in a bowl game since Alex Okafor’s school-record 4.5 during the 2012 Alamo Bowl. Ossai is the only FBS player over the last 20 seasons to record at least six tackles for loss and three sacks in a bowl game. It also marked his second-straight bowl game with at least eight tackles, making him one of only four Longhorns to do so in consecutive bowl games since 2000.

In addition to the Nagurski Trophy, Ossai has been recognized on the watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Butkus Award. He was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team last week.

The winner of the 2020 Bronko Nagurski Trophy will be chosen from five finalists that will be announced by the FWAA and Charlotte Touchdown Club in late November. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, will select a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. Committee members, by individual ballot, will then select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.