DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America has announced the preseason watch list for the 2024 Outland Trophy, recognizing 75 returning standout interior linemen representing all 10 Division I FBS conferences and independents. The 2024 season will close with the award's 79th winner being feted in Omaha and the watch list offers a talented field of players alongside one returning FWAA All-American.
The recipient of the 2024 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Dec. 12, 2024. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 22, 2025.
Howard Cross III of Notre Dame, a two-time FWAA All-American at defensive tackle, is the lone returning All-American on the preseason watch list. Notre Dame was 26th nationally at stopping the run last season giving up only 119.0 rushing yards per game with Cross in the middle. None of last year’s Outland Trophy semifinalists return this season.
Georgia has the most representatives with four, one of them a fellow defensive tackle in Nazir Stackhouse. The Bulldogs were 18th against the run last year giving up 113.6 ypg. The three others from Georgia are off the offensive front - guards Dylan Fairchild and Tate Ratledge alongside offensive tackle Xavier Truss – that helped the Bulldogs list fifth in total offense last season (496.5 yards per game) and 20th among FBS teams in rushing offense (191.2 ypg). Ratledge is the only unanimous All-SEC First Team member returning from 2023.
Alabama, Ohio State and USC are next listing three players each with one defender and two from the offensive line, and 13 schools have at least one pair of players represented. The Southeastern Conference, with Kentucky, LSU and Missouri each having a pair of players, leads the conferences with 18 total players. Ohio State and USC make up almost half the Big Ten Conference’s 13-man roster spread among eight league schools. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference each have nine.
Alabama center Parker Brailsford, a noted off-season transfer from last year’s College Football Playoff runner-up Washington, and guard Tyler Booker lead the Crimson Tide’s offensive line, and Tim Smith returns as an All-SEC defensive tackle. Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams just missed being an Outland Trophy semifinalist last season and plugs the Buckeyes’ defensive line. OSU's Donovan Jackson was a unanimous first team All-Big Ten guard last season and has All-Big Ten offensive tackle Josh Fryar alongside him. USC defensive tackle Bear Alexander is one of the keys to an improved Trojans defense. The Trojans – fifth nationally in passing offense last season and 10th in total offense – take their high-powered offense into the Big Ten with two starters back on the line in center Jonah Monheim and guard Emmanuel Pregnon.
Texas, which had last year’s Outland Trophy winner in defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat, shifts to a watch list member on offense as tackle Kelvin Banks bolsters its offense that moves into the SEC with 2023’s ninth-best total offense unit at 477.5 ypg. Other players of interest from the SEC are Tennessee center Cooper Mays, LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell and Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker. Banks, Mays and Campbell all earned Outland Trophy votes last season.
Defending national champion Michigan has its two outstanding defensive tackles represented with Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. Cross is one of two players from Notre Dame along with fellow defensive tackle Rylie Mills. The Fighting Irish would likely have had a third member, but center Zeke Correll transferred to NC State and joins the ACC's list. Florida State, undefeated in the regular season last year, has a pair of tackles on each side. Darius Washington is the only All-ACC First Team lineman returning this season and Joshua Farmer is at defensive tackle.
Oklahoma State punctuates the Big 12’s representatives with center Joe Michalski and offensive tackle Dalton Cooper, mainstays last year who helped running back Ollie Gordon II lead the nation in rushing. Cincinnati defensive tackle Dontay Corleone comes off a fine season and is one of two Bearcats players along with guard Luke Kandra. West Virginia offensive tackle Wyatt Milum is gaining preseason All-America praise.
Clay Webb of Jacksonville State earned a handful of All-America honors last season and is the headliner for the second-year FBS program and for Conference USA. UNLV, a surprise in the Mountain West last year, won’t be this year with all-conference offensive tackle Tiger Shanks and Jalen St. John on the watch list this season. Western Michigan center Jacob Gideon is the only first team All-MAC offensive lineman returning this season.
The conference breakdown is as follows. Beyond the 18 from the SEC hailing from 10 different programs, there are 13 from the Big Ten, nine from the ACC and Big 12, seven from the Mountain West, five from the American, four from Conference USA, the Mid-American and Sun Belt have three each, and the Pac-12 and Independents have two each.
There are 24 offensive tackles on this year’s list with 19 defensive tackles and 18 guards to go with 14 centers, and 57 of the 133 Football Bowl Subdivision schools are represented.
The FWAA will announce the Outland Trophy semifinalists on Nov. 20, and those players will then be paired down to three finalists announced on Nov. 26. The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from those finalists who will be part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.
Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. For a second year now, the FWAA will announce an Outland Trophy National 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.
| 2024 OUTLAND TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST (75) | ||
| DT Bear Alexander, USC | OG AJ Gillie, Louisiana | C Jonah Monheim, USC |
| OT Kelvin Banks, Texas | OG Michael Gonzalez, Louisville | DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss |
| OT Bryce Benhart, Nebraska | DT Mason Graham, Michigan | C Justin Osborne, SMU |
| DT Jordan Bertagnole, Wyoming | DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan | OT Shiyazh Pete, New Mexico State |
| OG Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M | OT Joshua Gray, Oregon State | OG Emmanuel Pregnon, USC |
| OG Gabe Blair, North Texas | DT B.J. Green, Colorado | OG Tate Ratledge, Georgia |
| OG Tyler Booker, Alabama | OG Zane Herring, South Florida | OT Jalen Rivers, Miami |
| C Parker Brailsford, Alabama | C Branson Hickman, Oklahoma | OT Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona |
| DT Brandon Brown, UTSA | OG Xavier Hill, Memphis | OT Tiger Shanks, UNLV |
| OT Will Campbell, LSU | OT Reid Holskey, Miami (Ohio) | DT Tim Smith, Alabama |
| OT Kage Casey, Boise State | DT Lee Hunter, UCF | OG Jalen St. John, UNLV |
| OT Dalton Cooper, Oklahoma State | OG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State | DT Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia |
| DT Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati | DT Patrick Jenkins, Tulane | DT Junior Tafuna, Utah |
| OT Ajani Cornelius, Oregon | OG Cam'Ron Johnson, Missouri | OT Makilan Thomas, Arkansas State |
| C Zeke Correll, NC State | OT Emery Jones, LSU | DT Soane Toia, San Jose State |
| C Eli Cox, Kentucky | C Logan Jones, Iowa | OT Ozzy Trapilo, Boston College |
| DT Howard Cross III, Notre Dame | OG Luke Kandra, Cincinnati | OT Xavier Truss, Georgia |
| OT Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota | OG Daniel King, Troy | C Mose Vavao, Fresno State |
| OT Fa'alili Fa'amoe, Washington State | OG Quantavious Leslie, WKU | DT Deone Walker, Kentucky |
| OG Dylan Fairchild, Georgia | C Cooper Mays, Tennessee | OT Darius Washington, Florida State |
| DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State | OT Armand Membou, Missouri | OG Clay Webb, Jax State |
| C Weston Franklin, Georgia Tech | C Joe Michalski, Oklahoma State | C Jordan White, Liberty |
| OT Josh Fryar, Ohio State | OT Blake Miller, Clemson | DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State |
| C Jacob Gardner, Colorado State | DT Rylie Mills, Notre Dame | OT Alex Wollschlaeger, Bowling Green |
| C Jacob Gideon, Western Michigan | OT Wyatt Milum, West Virginia | OG Sal Wormley, Penn State |
The Outland Trophy, celebrating 79 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.
The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.
Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2023 preseason watch list calendar:
Wed., July 31: Paycom Jim Thorpe Award
Thu., Aug. 1: Paul Hornung Award/Allstate Wuerffel Trophy
Fri., Aug. 2: Lou Groza Award/Ray Guy Award
Mon., Aug. 5: Walter Camp Award
Tue., Aug. 6: Doak Walker Award
Wed., Aug. 7: Biletnikoff Award
Thu., Aug. 8: Davey O’Brien Award
Fri., Aug. 9: Mackey Award/Rimington Trophy
Mon., Aug. 12: Bednarik Award
Tue., Aug. 13: Butkus Award
For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on Twitter at @NCFAA.
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The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 1,300 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The Committee serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Award Events and Dinner, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest. For more information contact Bob Mancuso Jr., Chairman at bmancuso@showofficeonline.com or see showofficeonline.com.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.