Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. was named a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy, the Football Writers Associate of America (FWAA) and Charlotte Touchdown Club announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Anderson Jr. is joined by Jordan Davis of Georgia and Kayvon Thibodeaux of Oregon to make up the finalist list. Despite having a finalist in nine of the last 11 seasons, Alabama’s lone winner of the Nagurski was Jonathan Allen in 2016.
Will Anderson Jr.
Linebacker, Sophomore
- The national leader in tackles for loss with 24 (-96 yards), a total that ranks third all-time in Alabama single-season records
- Also leads the country in sacks with 12.5 (-72 yards) to rank third in program history for a single season behind only Derrick Thomas who owns the Nos. 1 and 2 spots
- Accumulated 68 total tackles, good for second on UA, while adding a team-high six quarterback hurries and two pass breakups
- Earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors four times in 2021, along with being named the Bednarik Award Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions and picking up Nagurski Trophy Player of the Week honors once
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the top defensive player in college football as voted on by the membership of the FWAA. The award is presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and is named for Bronko Nagurski, who played football for the University of Minnesota and Chicago Bears. The 2021 winner will be announced at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet presented by LendingTree on Monday, Dec. 6 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
**This information was acquired from a recent press release from Alabama Athletics.**
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
