Six players who star at Yellowhammer State universities have been named to the 2020 Bednarik Award Preseason Watch List.
The announcement was made Monday by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia, which has presented the Chuck Bednarik Award annually since 1995 to the top defensive player in college football.
The award is named in honor of former college and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Chuck Bednarik. The 2020 winner will be announced at the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 10, assuming there actually is a college football season in 2020.
Players at in-state schools named to the watch list were University of Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses and defensive back Patrick Surtain II; Auburn University linebacker K.J. Britt; Troy University linebacker Carlton Martial; and University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) linebacker Kris Moll and defensive end Jordan Smith.
Bama has earned the award twice previously: Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2017 and Jonathan Allen in 2016. No other university in the state of Alabama has received the honor.
This comes after it was announced on Friday that Alabama’s scheduled 2020 opener against USC has been canceled due to the Pac-12 deciding not to play any non-conference games.
“As I’ve said before, USC AD Mike Bohn and I had multiple conversations over the last several months, and we were both planning on playing the football game on September 5 in Arlington. With the Pac-12’s decision to move to a conference-only schedule, we will do our best to adjust. What that looks like is to be determined,” UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne stated.
The Big Ten has also canceled all non-conference games, and more conferences could follow.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
