Ohio State leads the nation with four representatives, including linebacker Jerome Baker.
The Maxwell Football Club announced its watch list for the 23rd annual Chuck Bednarik Award on Monday afternoon.
The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995. Chuck Bednarik, former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles, is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of 1969 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 1967.
The watch list will once again incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast.Â
The Chuck Bednarik Award watch list features fresh faces, as 2016 finalists Jonathan Allen (Alabama), Myles Garrett (Texas A&M) and Jabril Peppers (Michigan) have all moved on to the NFL. Ohio State checks in with a quartet of Buckeye defenders in Nick Bosa, Tyquan Lewis, Denzel Ward and Jerome Baker. Meanwhile, Florida State and USC are strongly represented by four and three candidates, respectively.
Allen, the 2016 Bednarik Award winner, became the first Alabama player to win the award in 2016. He was a first round NFL draft pick of the Washington Redskins.
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