News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
DALLAS — Texas A&M defensive linemen Shemar Turner and Nic Scourton were named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List, the Football Writers Association of America announced Tuesday morning. The award annually honors the national defensive player of the year.
Turner returns for his senior season after helping the Aggies boast the best rush defense in the SEC and rank third in the league in total defense (316.2) last season. Texas A&M limited its opponents to just 108.8 rushing yards per game and nine touchdowns on the ground, while leading the league in sacks (42.0) and ranking second in tackles for loss (99.0). Turner started every game he played in over the last two seasons. The DeSoto, Texas, native was top-three on the team last year with 6.0 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss, good for eighth and ninth, respectively, among SEC defensive linemen. He totaled 33 tackles and blocked a pair of kicks as a junior, being named to the All-SEC Second Team by season’s end.
Scourton arrived in Aggieland in January after leading the Big Ten with 10.0 sacks and ranking fourth with 15.0 tackles for loss as a sophomore last season at Purdue. Starting all 11 games he played in, Scourton was fifth on the team with 50 tackles while also forcing a fumble and breaking up three passes. He closed out the year earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors. A native of Bryan, Texas, Scourton impressed in the Maroon & White Game in the spring, tallying seven tackles, including 3.5 for loss, while contributing to both teams.
The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2024 trophy on Nov. 20 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 9 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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.