Texas A&M second-year cornerback Will Lee has been named to the watchlist for the Bronko Nagurski award, presented every year to the most outstanding defensive player in college football. Lee is entering a season with the Aggies in which he was named to the preseason all-SEC second team, returning to Texas A&M after flirting with a possible NFL Draft entry.
Here's more of the press release from Texas A&M Athletics, which can be found in its entirety at this link:
"Lee returns as one of the nation's top defensive backs after he earned All-SEC Second Team honors last season. He ranked fifth in the league with 10 pass breakups and was top-five on the team with 42 tackles. Lee recorded at least one pass breakup in six games, including a career-high four pass breakups against Arkansas. He finished the season as only one of two SEC players to register four-or-more breakups in a game."
Texas A&M defensive back Will Lee named to Bronko Nagurski award watchlist
Though Lee is definitely deserving of an award like this, he faces some stiff odds in his candidacy for it. A cornerback hasn't won the award since Derrick Strait in 2003, though a defensive back did win in 2023 when Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts took home the honor.
Texas A&M has never had a player win the Nagurski award, despite a strong tradition of defensive play, especially in the 90s when the award was established. Lee therefore has a chance to make history if he can bring home the trophy this year.
When it comes to the cornerback position, the less your name is mentioned, the better. That inherently makes it pretty tough to win an award like this unless teams repeatedly try and fail to test him with passes in his direction. Elko could also scheme up some blitzes to get Lee some sacks, but I'm not sure he would do that just for the sake of this award.
There are some steep odds here, but Lee is a guy that can rise to that potential for the Aggies this year. Here's hoping we see him continue to contend for this trophy deep into the season.