The Football Writers Association of America released its 2022 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List today, selecting 85 defensive standouts from 61 schools in all 10 Division I FBS conferences plus independents. The watch list roster includes five returning players from last season’s FWAA All-America team and Irish senior defenders Isaiah Foskey and Brandon Joseph.
Isaiah Foskey Information:
- As a junior in 2021, led the Irish with 11 sacks – the third-most in a single season at Notre Dame.
- Recorded a sack in nine of 13 contests, including two multi-sack performances.
- Started all 13 games for the Irish in 2021.
- Finished the year tied at 11th in the nation with 0.85 sacks per game.
- Led the defense with 12.5 tackles for loss and finished fourth overall on the team with 52 tackles.
- A ballhawk in the trenches, as he posted six of Notre Dame’s 13 forced fumbles on the season while collecting two fumble recoveries.
- Has appeared in 29 games for the Irish with 77 career tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks.
- 2021 Phil Steele Third Team All-American
- 2022 Nagurski Trophy Watch List
there goes that man #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/w5Cn8jiHfe
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) July 26, 2022
Brandon Joseph Information:
- Joins the Irish roster this season as a transfer after two All-America campaigns at Northwestern in 2020 and 2021.
- Boasts 129 career tackles with nine interceptions, including a Big Ten conference leading six interceptions in 2020.
- 2022 Walter Camp and The Sporting News Preseason All-American
- 2022 Thorpe Award and Nagurski Trophy Watch Lists
- 2021 Associated Press First Team All-American
- 2021 Walter Camp Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Thorpe Award watch list selection
- 2020 AFCA Unanimous First Team All-American
- 2020 Associated Press and The Sporting News First Team All-American
- 2020 Associated Press First Team All-Big Ten
- 2020 Associated Press Big Ten Newcomer of the Year
Brandon Joseph
Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List pic.twitter.com/BnAGmiI2xc
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) July 26, 2022
The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2022 trophy on Nov. 16 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 5 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C.
Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. As in previous years, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time.
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. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner will be chosen from the five finalists named in November. Committee members, by individual ballot, select the winner they regard as the best defensive player in college football.
The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football’s Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw “Bronko” Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.