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A spirit that is not afraid

Six Tigers named to preseason award watchlists

We're one week into football season in Auburn, and there are six Tiger players who made watchlists for 11 national awards before the season began. 

The most notable player is junior running back, Tank Bigsby. He is on the watchlist for the Doak Walker Award, awarded to the nation’s top running back, and the Maxwell Award, best all-around. Bigsby ran for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns last year during his sophomore season. He is also a First-Team All-SEC selection and looks to be a big asset to the Tigers this season.

Center Nick Brahms, though done with football, was named to the list for the Rimington Trophy, awarded to the nation’s best center, as well as the Wuerffel Trophy which is given to the player who “best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.” 

Brahms has since stepped away from football after the accumulation of injuries left him unable to play football at the level he wanted and needed to. 

Edge rusher Derick Hall made the watchlist for the Bednarik Award alongside defensive end Colby Wooden, as well as the Nagurki Trophy. Both awards honor the nation’s top defender. Hall is also on the watchlist for the Lott IMPACT trophy, awarded to the defensive IMPACT player of the year, and the Rotary Lombardi Award given to the college football player “who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL’s legendary coach Vince Lombardi.” 

Hall finished last season with nine sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, compared to Wooden who finished with 61 tackles, six sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss and seven hurries. 

John Samuel Shenker, sixth-year tight end, is on the watchlist for the Mackey Award given to nation’s top tight end. Last season he finished with a record-setting 33 passes for 413 yards, the most ever by an Auburn tight end. 

Another player who has previously been plagued by injury is senior linebacker Owen Pappoe, a former five-star prospect out of high school and fourth year starter on this team. He was named to the Butkus Award, despite having missed an extended amount of time last season due to an injury. He has a career 165 tackles, 12 of them for a loss, six sacks and an interception to his name.

In addition, Hall, Shedrick Jackson, D.J. James, Eku Leota, Pappoe, Nehemiah Pritchett, Shenker and Kilian Zierer were named to the Senior Bowl watchlist. The Senior Bowl is a postseason all-star game that features the top NFL prospects at the end of each season.  

As the season progresses, these will be names that could find their way on the national stage at the end of the fall. 


William Halliday | Sports Writer

William Halliday started with The Plainsman in fall 2022. He is a journalism major from Memphis, Tennessee.

Twitter: @wphalliday3


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