Alabama continues to the put up impressive watch list numbers.
On Tuesday, four Alabama lineman were named to the Outland Trophy Award Watch List, which is given the nations top lineman on offense or defense.
Offensive linemen Landon Dickerson, Deonte Brown, Alex Leatherwood and defensive lineman LaBryan Ray all made the list of 85 candidates for the honor.
Five other members of the Crimson Tide have previously won the award in the past which include Chris Samuels (1999), Andre Smith (2008), Barrett Jones (2011), Cam Robinson (2016) and most recently Quinnen Williams in 2018.
For Ray it is the second nomination he’s received today including his named reaching the Nagurski Award Watch List.Ray, spent a majority of the 2019 season out with a foot injury but his three starts were productive ones. In the three games he appeared in Ray accumulated nine total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack before his season was cut short.
On the offensive side of the ball, Leatherwood, Dickerson and Brown are all returning starters from the 2019 season with Brown and Leatherwood starting even prior to last season.
Leatherwood elected to return for his senior season after proving he is an extremely versatile lineman who has played both guard and tackles throughout his career. He’s started in 28 consecutive games and graded out at nearly 89 percent in 2019 while allowing just two sacks and three quarterback hurries last year.
Brown, who has been a big player for the Crimson Tide’s run game has 13 career starts under his belt with 8 coming last season after missing the first portion of the season due to suspension. He aided the Alabama back fields two top backs to accounting for 1,665 rushing yards with an average of 5.5 yards per carry.
Dickerson, who transferred to Alabama after spending the first part of his college career at Florida State, is another versatile lineman who began the season at guard and finished the year at center. At both of those spots Dickerson graded out at nearly 88 percent and allowed on one sack and four quarterback hurries in 2019.
The Outland trophy has been presented annually since 1946 by the Football Writers Association of America to recognize the top interior lineman in college football. The award is named in honor in All-America offensive lineman John Outland of Penn.
The 2020 winner will be announced at the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show in December.
*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber only content!*
Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
