Alabama Players Named to Award Watch List

Patrick Surtain II, Dylan Moses and Mac Jones are listed as names to watch for a couple of prestigious college accolades.

On Monday morning, the Alabama Football official Twitter account broke the news that Moses and Surtain were listed as names to watch for the Chuck Bednarik Award.

This award has been around since 1995, and is given out to the best defensive player in all of college football. 

Since 1995, only two Alabama players have won this award. Jonathan Allen won it in 2016, and Minkah Fitzpatrick earned it the following year. 

After back to back impressive seasons, Moses was presumed to be a first-round draft pick in 2020. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in summer camp, which sidelined him for the entire season. Without Moses on the field a lot of pressure was put on true freshman linebackers, Shane Lee, and Christian Harris. Although both players performed well at times, the defense took a huge blow without having the All-American linebacker. 

Moses has been pretty quiet on social media about his rehab process, but he did share an Instagram video in November of 2019, running on a zero-gravity treadmill. If the leader and captain of the defense can return to full strength, this will take some pressure off of  defensive coordinator, Pete Golding.

Surtain is also a crucial member of the Crimson Tide defense. Surtain arrived  inTuscaloosa as a five-star recruit with a ton of upside, and many fans we're ecstatic to see him get on the field. As a freshman in 2018, he started 12 games and recorded 37 tackles with one interception. When he returned to campus in 2019, he was named a starter for the upcoming season.

Due to his versatility and elite coverage skills, Surtain is considered to be a first-round lock for the 2021 NFL Draft. Many draft analysts have him mocked as a top 10 player, and list him as the number one overall corner prospect.

Alongside his defensive teammates, Alabama quarterback, Mac Jones is also up for a potential award.

Jones was named to the Davey O'Brien watch list, with quite a few other elite college quarterbacks. To be among Trevor Lawrence, and Justin Fields, is quite the compliment for someone who is filling some pretty big shoes at the quarterback position.

The Davey O'Brien Award, is given to the nation’s best college quarterback and is college football’s most prestigious quarterback award. According to the awards website, "The Davey O’Brien Award honors candidates who exemplify Davey O’Brien’s enduring character while exhibiting teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership in both academics and athletics."

Tua Tagovailoa was a finalist for this award in 2018, but similar to the Heisman Trophy, he was the runner up to Oklahoma QB, Kyler Murray.

If Jones earns the Davey O'Brien award, he would have a pretty significant chance of winning the Heisman. Since 2005, eight of the players who have won the Davey O'Brien award, have also won the Heisman.

After lackluster 2019 season, Alabama is hoping to once again take the country by storm. Winning these awards would certainly be a step in the right direction.