Trio Named Preseason All-ACC, Nagurski Candidates
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A trio of Miami Hurricanes was selected to the watch list for the 2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) announced Tuesday.
Senior defensive backs Michael Jackson and Jaquan Johnson, along with junior linebacker Shaq Quarterman, were all named candidates for the award recognizing college football’s top defensive player. The watch list for the Nagurski Trophy represents the 10th watch list to include at least one Hurricane student-athlete this preseason.
The same group – Jackson, Johnson and Quarterman – was also named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Football Team Tuesday afternoon.
The honor is the second for Jackson, who was named to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, honoring the nation’s top defensive back, earlier in the week. Tuesday’s selection is the third for both Johnson – who was named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award and the Thorpe Award – and Quarterman, named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award and the Butkus Award, honoring the nation’s top linebacker.
Jackson enjoyed a breakout year in his first season as a starting cornerback in 2017, making 10 starts and seeing action in all 13 games. The Birmingham, Ala., native, who finished with 43 total tackles, was selected to the All-ACC Second Team and was tied for the team lead with four interceptions on the season. Jackson, who finished with five pass breakups, recorded the first interception of his career in a win at Florida State and had a two-interception performance in a win over Syracuse.
One of the best safeties in America a season ago, Johnson decided to return for his senior season after being named a Second-Team All-America by Sports Illustrated and the AFCA in 2017. He led the Hurricanes with 96 total tackles a season ago, and also tied for the team lead with four interceptions. A Walter Camp Player of the Year semifinalist and a three-time ACC Defensive Back of the week honoree, Johnson has totaled 160 tackles, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and six interceptions in 39 career games – he has not missed a game since arriving to Coral Gables in January 2015.
A Freshman All-America and an All-ACC selection two seasons ago, Quarterman has been a dominant force since arriving on campus as a midyear enrollee in January of 2016. The Orange Park, Fla., native has started all 26 games since arriving on campus and in just two seasons, has piled up 167 total tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, six passes defended and two fumble recoveries. He was named a second-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore.
The trio joins senior center Tyler Gauthier (Rimington Trophy as nation’s top center, Outland Trophy as nation’s top interior lineman), junior Travis Homer, who was named to the watch list for both the Maxwell Award (college football’s player of the year) and the Doak Walker Award (top running back) and junior Ahmmon Richards (Maxwell Award and Biletnikoff Award as nation’s best receiver) as preseason honorees.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from those five finalists. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the association’s full membership, selects a 26-man All-America Team and eventually the Nagurski Trophy finalists. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.
This year’s watch list includes at least four players from each of the 10 FBS conferences. The SEC (16) leads the 97-member list with the Big Ten (15) right behind. The ACC (13) and Pac-12 (12) also have double-digit representation, followed by the Big 12 (9), American Athletic and Mountain West (7), Conference USA and Independents (5), and the Mid-American and Sun Belt (4).
The list includes 27 backs, 26 linebackers, 24 ends and 20 tackles.
