LSU Gold

Fooball Lands Six On Lombardi Trophy Watch List

by Clyde Verdin
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Fooball Lands Six On Lombardi Trophy Watch List

BATON ROUGE, La. – On Thursday afternoon, the Rotary Lombardi Award Preliminary Watch List was announced with six Tigers making the cut in Kendell Beckwith, Leonard Fournette, Davon Godchaux, Arden Key, Lewis Neal and Ethan Pocic.

The six LSU football players were among 158 candidates to make the initial list for the award to the player that demonstrates outstanding performance and skill in offensive or defensive positions and best exemplify the discipline, virtue and wisdom that defined Vincent Lombardi’s exceptional brand of leadership.

The players selected for the watch list were chosen by earning All-American honors, being named to their respective all-conference teams, or by receiving 2016 pre-season honors.

Beckwith, on the watch lists for the Butkus, Nagurski and Bednarik awards, returned to LSU for his senior season this year and is coming off of a junior campaign where he finished second on the team in tackles with 84, including have 10.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

After setting the single-season record for rushing yards with 1,953, Fournette embarks on his junior season after leading the Southeastern Conference and the nation in rushing a year ago averaging 162.8 yards per carry on the ground and scoring 22 touchdowns, with four of those coming in the Texas Bowl win over Texas Tech in December.

A two-year starter at defensive tackle, Godchaux started 12 games at the position as a sophomore in 2015 in helping LSU have one of the stingiest running defenses in the conference allowing just 122.9 yards per game, earning 6.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss on the year.

Key was named a Freshman All-American by ESPN.com and 247 Sports, along with being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after he played in all 12 games and starting the last nine last year, collecting 41 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks.

The second of the senior trio to make the cut includes Neal, currently on the watch list for the Nagurski and Hendricks Awards. Neal’s 8.0 sacks in 2015 tied for the 10th most in a single year for an LSU defender, starting all 12 games at defensive end where he was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after registering three sacks against Florida.

The final Tiger to make the cut is Pocic who twice last season was named the SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week, making all 12 starts at center in helping LSU’s potent rushing attack rank as high as seventh nationally with over 250 yards per game.

Following the preliminary watch list, a nomination period will open to the internal selection committee to add additional players who meet the skill and leadership standards set forth for the Rotary Lombardi Award. The award ceremony date will be announced later in the football season along with updated lists of award candidates.

Name, Position, School
Montravius Adams, DT, Auburn
Otaro Alaka, OLB, Texas A&M
Brian Allen, OG, Michigan State
Jonathan Allen, DE, Alabama
Ryan Anderson, OLB, Alabama
Zach Banner, OT, USC
Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee
J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State
C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
Kendell Beckwith, ILB, LSU
Vince Biegel, OLB, Wisconsin
Adam Bisnowaty, OT, Pittsburgh
Ben Boulware, ILB, Clemson
Caleb Brantley, DT, Florida
Matt Breida, RB, Georgia Southern
DeAngelo Brown, DT, Louisville
Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
Jake Browning, QB, Washington
Riley Bullough, ILB, Michigan State
Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
Tom Cameron, C, Southern Miss
Josh Carraway, DE, TCU
Lorenzo Carter, OLB, Georgia
Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
Corey Clement, RB, Wisconsin
Mason Cole, C, Michigan
James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh
Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon
Troy Crowder, OG, Clemson
Zach Cunningham, ILB, Vanderbilt
Ed Davis,  OLB, Michigan State
Jarrad Davis, OLB, Florida
J.J. Dielman, OT, Utah
Josh Dobbs, QB, Tennessee
Evan Engram, TE, Ole Miss
Pat Elflein, C, Ohio State
Luke Falk, QB, Washington State
Folorunso Fatukasi, DT, Connecticut
Dan Feeney, OG, Indiana
Devonte Fields, DE, Louisville
Salamo Fiso, OLB, Arizona State
Kylie Fitts, DE, Vanderbilt
Reuben Foster, ILB, Alabama
Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon
Kyle Fuller, C, Baylor
Wayne Gallman, RB, Clemson
Myles Gaskin, RB, Washington
Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
Avery Gennesy, OT, Texas A&M
Ryan Glasgow, DT, Michigan
Davon Godchaux, DT, LSU
Colby Gossett, OT, Appalachian State
Jay Guillermo, C, Clemson
Daeshon Hall, DE, Texas A&M
Darius Hamilton, DT, Rutgers
Da’Shawn Hand, DT, Alabama
Charles Harris, DE, Missouri
Marquis Haynes, DE, Ole Miss
Jon Heck, OT, North Carolina
Bucky Hodges, TE, Virginia Tech
Deon Hollins, OLB, UCLA
Elijah Hood, RB, North Carolina
O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
Sam Hubbard, DE, Ohio State
Jalen Hurd, RB, Tennessee
Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan
Mitch Hyatt, OT, Clemson
Martez Ivey, OG, Florida
Malik Jefferson, ILB, Texas
Josey Jewell, ILB, Iowa
Dorian Johnson, OG, Pittsburgh
Jaleel Johnson, DT,  Iowa
Roderick Johnson, OT, Florida State
D.J. Jones, DT, Ole Miss
Jarron Jones, DT, Notre Dame
Nazair Jones, DT, North Carolina
Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami
Kyle Kalis, OG, Michigan
Chad Kelly, QB, Ole Miss
Keith Kelsey, ILB, Louisville
Arden Key, DE, LSU
Micah Kiser, ILB, Virginia
George Kittle, TE, Iowa
Forrest Lamp, OT, Western Kentucky
Harold Landry, DE, Boston College
Carl Lawson, DE, Auburn
Elijah Lee, OLB, Kansas State
Jordan Leggett, TE, Clemson
Tyquan Lewis, DE, Ohio State
Nick Linder, C, Miami
Shock Linwood, RB, Baylor
Lowell Lotulelei, DT, Utah
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
Damien Mama, OG, USC
Jamal Marcus, DE, Akron
Hercules Mata’afa, DE, Washington State
Jaylen Reeves-Maybin, OLB, Tennessee
Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
Conor McDermott, OT, UCLA
Malik McDowell, DT, Michigan State
James McFarland, DE, TCU
Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
Takkarist McKinley, DE,  UCLA
Raekwon McMillan,  ILB, Ohio State
Matt Milano, OLB, Boston College
Calvin Munson, OLB,  San Diego State
Lewis Neal, DE, LSU
Hardy Nickerson, ILB, Illinois
Tyler Orlosky, C, West Virginia
Daron Payne, DT, Alabama
Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
Caleb Peterson, OG, North Carolina
Harrison Phillips, DT, Stanford
Ethan Pocic, C, LSU
Billy Price, OG, Ohio State
Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State
Greg Pyke, OG, Georgia
Jake Replogle, DT, Purdue
Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama
Isaac Rochell, DE, Notre Dame
Larry Rose III, RB, New Mexico State
Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
Chase Roullier, OG, Wyoming
Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
Seth Russell, QB, Baylor
Jaylen Samuels, TE/FB, North Carolina State
Nico Siragusa, OG, San Diego State
Dan Skipper, OT, Arkansas
Braden Smith, OG, Auburn
Cameron Smith, ILB, USC
Dawuane Smoot, DE, Illinois
Steven Taylor, OLB, Houston
Chad Thomas, DE, Miami
Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Alabama
Eddie Vanderdoes , DT, UCLA  
Anthony Walker, ILB, Northwestern
Charles Walker, DT, Oklahoma
DeMarcus Walker, DE, Florida State
Greg Ward, Jr., QB, Houston
Carlos Watkins, DT,  Clemson
Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
Davis Webb, QB, California
Sean Welsh, OG, Iowa
Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
Connor Williams, OT, Texas
Tim Williams, OLB, Alabama
Tre Williams, OLB, Auburn
Deatrich Wise, Jr., DE, Arkansas
Chris Wormley, DT, Michigan
Taylor Young, OLB, Baylor