With the 2024 college football campaign on our doorstep, another season is already upon us. It’s one that sets the table for the feast we’re about to consume, preparing us for the top players we will witness in action these coming fall Saturdays. That’s right, its award watch list season, and on Wednesday this week the Paycomm Jim Thorpe Award watch list was released.
Which Players Are on the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List?
The Jim Thorpe Award has been honoring the top defensive back in college football since 1986. Named after multi-sport stadnout James Francis Thorpe, the award is given out annually by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Recent winners include Trey Taylor, Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, and Coby Bryant, but which players headline the student-athletes earmarked for success this fall?
42 of the nation’s very best defensive backs have been selected on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list, with Colorado Buffaloes’ Travis Hunter and Ohio State transfer Caleb Downs arguably the top names to watch. While the list features a strong Power Five presence, there are 15 players included from the Group of Five level, headlined by Navy’s Rayuan Lane III. The full list is below:
- Dontae Balfour, Charlotte
- Billy Bowman Jr., Oklahoma
- Shyheim Brown, Florida State
- Cobee Bryant, Kansas
- Denzel Burke, Ohio State
- Derek Carter, Jacksonville State
- Sebastian Castro, Iowa
- Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State
- Tacario Davis, Arizona
- Caleb Downs, Ohio State
- Daylen Everette, Georgia
- Jordan Favors, Appalachian State
- Brylan Green, Liberty
- Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
- Maxen Hook, Toledo
- Jack Howell, Colorado State
- Travis Hunter, Colorado
- Anthony Johnson Jr., Western Kentucky
- Ethan Johnson, Appalachian State
- Will Johnson, Michigan
- Donte Kent, Central Michigan
- Rayuan Lane III, Navy
- Ike Larsen, Utah State
- A’Marion McCoy, Boise State
- Donovan McMillon, Pittsburgh
- Malachi Moore, Alabama
- Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame
- Jabbar Muhammad, Oregon
- Seyi Oladipo, Boise State
- Jordan Oladokun, Bowling Green
- Cameron Oliver, UNLV
- Gavin Pringle, Georgia State
- Shavon Revel Jr., East Carolina
- Quincy Riley, Louisville
- Jonas Sanker, Virginia
- Malaki Starks, Georgia
- Gabriel Taylor, Rice
- Dillon Thieneman, Purdue
- Jaden Voisin, South Alabama
- Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
- Aydan White, NC State
- Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin
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