On Monday, The Rotary Lombardi Award, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Houston, announced the 90 players who will compete for this year’s coveted award which featured West Virgina offensive linemen Zach Frazier and Wyatt Milum, and defensive lineman Dante Stills - all three hail from the State of West Virginia.
Frazier and Milum highlight an offensive line paving the way for a Mountaineer rushing attack that averages 191.3 yards per game
Stills has 15 tackles on the season, including 4.0 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks. The senior's TFL Thursday night in the 43-40 win over the Baylor Bears on Thursday night notched 47.5 for his career, tying Grant Wiley for the most in school history.
Lombardi Midseason Watch List (sorted alphabetically and by conference)
ACC (8)
Bryan Bresee, Clemson, Rs So DT
Caleb Chandler, Louisville, Rs Sr G
SirVocea Dennis, Pittsburgh, Sr LB
Cory Durden, North Carolina State, Rs Sr DT/DE
Calijah Kancey, Pittsburgh, Rs Jr DT
Jordan McFadden, Clemson, Rs Sr OT
Myles Murphy, Clemson, Jr DE
Trenton Simpson, Clemson, Jr LB
American (4)
Dwayne Boyles, USF, Sr LB
Elijah Chatman, SMU, Sr DT
Patrick Paul, Houston, So OT
Lorenz Metz, Cincinnati, Sr OG
Big 12 (14)
Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State, Jr DE
Cooper Beebe, Kansas State, Jr OL
Trevor Downing, Iowa State, Rs Sr C
Jaylan Ford, University of Texas, Jr LB
Zach Frazier, West Virginia, So C
Connor Galvin, Baylor, Sr OT
Siaki Ika, Baylor, Jr DT
Brock Martin, Oklahoma State, S-Sr DE
Will McDonald IV, Iowa State, Rs Sr DE
Wyatt Milum, West Virginia, So OT
Chris Murray, Oklahoma, Rs Sr OG
DeMarvion Overshown, University of Texas, S-Sr LB
Dante Stills, West Virginia, S-Sr DL
Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech, Sr OLB
Big Ten (15)
Jack Campbell, Iowa, Sr LB
Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State, Rs So LB
Zach Harrison, Ohio State, Sr DE
Ryan Hayes, Michigan, Rs Sr OT
Nick Herbig, Wisconsin, Jr OLB
Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State, Jr OT
Dawand Jones, Ohio State, Sr OT
Sam LaPorta, Iowa, Sr TE
PJ Mustipher, Penn State, S-Sr DT
Jer'Zhan Newton, Illinois, So DT
Olu Oluwatimi, Michigan, S-Sr C
Alex Palczewski, Illinois, S-Sr OT
John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota, S-Sr C
Peter Skoronski, Northwestern, Jr OT
Jacob Slade, Michigan State, Rs Sr DT
C-USA (7)
Praise Amaewhule, UTEP, Rs, Jr DE
Abraham Beauplan, Marshall, Sr LB
KD Davis, North Texas, Sr LB
Jordan Ferguson, Middle Tennessee, Rs Sr DE
Tyler Grubbs, Louisiana Tech, So LB
Ahofitu Maka, UTSA, Sr C
Jadrian Taylor, UTEP, Sr DE
Independents (8)
Jayson Ademilola, Notre Dame, S-Sr DL
Clark Barrington, BYU, Jr LG
Andre Carter II, Army, Jr OLB
Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame, Sr DE
Blake Freeland, BYU, Jr LT
Michael Mayer, Notre Dame, Jr TE
Chris Ojoh, New Mexico State, Sr LB
Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame, S-Sr OL
Mid-American (2)
Darren Anders, Bowling Green, Sr ILB
Jamal Hines, Toledo, Sr OLB
Mountain West (3)
Viliami "Junior" Fehoko, San Jose State, Jr DE
Caden McDonald, San Diego State, Sr LB
David Perales, Fresno State, Sr DE
Pac-12 (8)
Braeden Daniels, Utah, Jr OT
Brandon Dorlus, Oregon, Jr DE
Alex Forsyth, Oregon, Sr C
Jaxson Kirkland, Washington, Sr OT
Noah Sewell, Oregon, So LB
Ron Stone Jr., Washington State, Rs Jr Edge
Tuli Tuipulotu, USC, Jr DT
Andrew Vorhees, USC, Rs Sr OG
SEC (15)
Will Anderson Jr., Alabama, Jr OLB
Brock Bowers, Georgia, So TE
Nick Broeker, Ole Miss, Sr OG
Jalen Carter, Georgia, Jr DL
Edgerrin Cooper, Texas A&M, Rs So LB
Brenton Cox Jr., Florida, Rs. Jr DE
Ali Gaye, LSU, Rs Sr DE
Derick Hall, Auburn, Sr Edge
Broderick Jones, Georgia, Rs So OT
Bumper Pool, Arkansas, Rs Sr LB
Layden Robinson, Texas A&M, Sr OG
Nolan Smith, Georgia, Sr LB
Henry To'oTo'o, Alabama, Sr ILB
O'Cyrus Torrence, Florida, Jr OL
Darnell Wright, Tennessee, Sr OT
Sun Belt (6)
Kivon Bennett, Arkansas State, Rs Sr LB
Cooper Hodges, Appalachian State, Rs Jr OT
Willie Lampkin, Coastal Carolina, Jr C
Carlton Martial, Troy, Sr LB
Javon Solomon, Troy, So LB
Josaiah Stewart, Coastal Carolina, So Bandit
The voting process will follow this schedule.
- October 24 - 31, 2022: Vote to determine Semi-finalists
- November 2, 2022: Semi-finalists announcement
- November 4 – 14, 2022: Vote to determine Four Finalists
- November 17, 2022: Four Finalists announcement
- November 18 – December 5, 2022: Final vote to determine winner
- December 7, 2022: Rotary Lombardi Award® Winner announced
To be considered for the Rotary Lombardi Award®, players must be a NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:
- Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.
- Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
- Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver.
- Be eligible to participate in the current season.
The 2022 Rotary Lombardi Award® watchlist is compiled by a subcommittee of the Rotary Lombardi Award® committee and included SID submissions. On the preliminary watch list, players were selected based on their past performance and expectations for the upcoming 2022 college football season. The updated list includes additional players whose play on the field at the halfway point in the season has merited their inclusion. Also, some players were removed from the initial list due to injury.
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