Texas A&M Defensive Back Named To Elite Defensive Award Watchlist

Will Lee III has been named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy preseason watchlist, Texas A&M Football announced on X. This award is given to the overall best defensive player in college football. Lee, the incoming senior who spent a year at community college, Kansas State, and one year at Texas A&M, will be dominant on the field all season.

Lee has had quite the journey as he has played for three different schools, improving his talent each year. He started off playing at Iowa Western Community College where he earned NJCAA First-Team All-America honors as well as first-team all-conference and all-region honors, as he led his team to the NJCAA Championship in 2022.

After such a breakthrough season, Kansas State decided to take a chance on him, which was the right move as he has impacted the college football world. At Kansas State, Lee ended the year with 42 tackles, including 30 solo, and recorded two interceptions.

He had an incredible outing against Texas, where he recorded a career high nine tackles, including seven solo, and a pass breakup. After such an amazing season, Lee was awarded with All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors that was voted on by the coaches.

It seems that his career continues to improve, as he headed to Texas A&M for his junior season, where he turned heads and truly made a name for himself. Lee started in all 12 regular-season games for the Aggies at cornerback, where he was able to record 42 total tackles and 10 pass breakups.

In the Aggies' season opener against Notre Dame, Lee matched his career-high nine tackles, including a tackle for loss. He also came up with two interceptions on the season, the most memorable one being against Texas, where he had a 93-yard touchdown off of it, scoring the Aggies' only touchdown.

Where Does Lee Go From Here?

While Lee is continuing his college football career at Texas A&M after making switches in his first two seasons, he will be the Aggies' go-to cornerback like he was the previous season. During SEC Media Days, Lee mentioned that the Aggies were "hungry for wins" which will motivate him even more.

Alongside Lee, there are 59 other players on the award watchlist, including 16 players from the SEC. While it will be a tough award to win, with Lee's motivation and execution, he is for sure a top contender heading into the 2025 college football season.