Boston College Football Linebacker Named 2025 Burlsworth Trophy Nominee

Boston College football linebacker Juan Zabal has been named a nominee for the 2025 Burlsworth Trophy.

The award announced its list of 79 nominees on Tuesday and is given to the most outstanding college football player that started his career as a walk-on.

“Even with all the changes in college football, the walk-on athlete is still enormously impactful,” said Marty Burlsworth, President and CEO of the Burlsworth Trophy and older brother of Brandon Burlsworth in the official press release. “All of these nominees have a passion for the game and that passion can spread throughout a team. That’s what makes these guys special. College football is what it is today because of players that had a dream and were willing to put in the work to make their dreams come true.”

Zabal has been with the Eagles program since 2022 and has played in 18 games. In 2024, he played primarily on special teams in nine games and in 2025, he has recorded one tackle in eight games during Boston College’s Week 3 30-20 loss at Stanford.

The award will have The Burlsworth Trophy Award Show to honor the three finalists and name the winner on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark.

Below is the full list of nominees.

2025 Burlsworth Trophy Nominees

App State DT Rondo Porter
Arkansas DB Larry Worth III
Arkansas State OL/TE Cameron Ambrose
Baylor WR Josh Cameron
Boise State LB Boen Phelps
Boston College LB Juan Zabal
Bowling Green LB Gideon Lampron
Buffalo WR Victor Snow
BYU S Tanner Wall
California WR Trond Grizzell
Charlotte WR Derrick Eley
Cincinnati S Antwan Peek Jr.
Colorado S Ben Finneseth
Connecticut WR John Neider
Duke CB Caleb Weaver
East Carolina DL Zion Wilson
Eastern Michigan P Mitchell Tomasek
Florida WR Taylor Spierto
Fresno State DB Camryn Bracha
Georgia RB Cash Jones
Georgia Southern RB David Mbadinga
Georgia Tech DL Jason Moore
Hawaii PK Kansei Matsuzawa
Houston LS Jacob Garza
Illinois DB Miles Scott
Indiana TE Riley Nowkowski
Iowa WR/RS Kaden Wetjen
Iowa State K Kyle Konrardy
Jacksonville State WR Brock Rechsteiner
James Madison S Jacob Thomas
Kansas K Laith Marjan
Kent State WR/KR Da’Realyst Clark
Kentucky OLB Hayden Dawahare
Michigan FB Max Bredeson
Michigan State P Ryan Eckley
Middle Tennessee State LB Parker Hughes
Minnesota LB Derik LeCaptain
Nebraska TE Luke Lindenmeyer
New Mexico K Luke Drzewiecki
North Texas QB Drew Mestemaker
Northwestern DT Carmine Bastone
Notre Dame WR Jordan Faison
Ohio State LB Joey Velazquez
Oklahoma OL Febechi Nwaiwu
Oklahoma State S Parker Robertson
Old Dominion LB Seth Naotala
Oregon ILB Bryce Boettcher
Oregon State WR Trent Walker
Penn State LB Dominic DeLuca
Purdue RB Devin Mockobee
Rice LB Andrew Awe
Rutgers DL Jordan Walker
San Diego State K Gabriel Plascencia
South Alabama S Christopher Wallace Jr.
South Carolina TE Maurice Brown II
TCU TE Chase Curtis
Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop
Texas DB Michael Taaffe
Texas A&M TE Nate Boerkircher
Texas State TE Titus Lyons
Texas Tech K Stone Harrington
Toledo WR/PR Bryson Hammer
Troy RB Tae Meadows
Tulane LB Sam Howard
Tulsa QB Stephen Kittleman
UAB RB Soloman Beebe
UCLA TE Hudson Habermehl
USC RB King Miller
Utah S Jackson Bennee
Utah State QB Bryson Barnes
Vanderbilt LB Nick Rinaldi
Virginia RB J’Mari Taylor
Virginia Tech TE Ja’Ricous Hairston
Wake Forest DB Nick Anderson
Washington State S Tucker Large
West Virginia LS Macguire Moss
Western Kentucky LT Marshall Jackson
Wisconsin OLB Mason Reiger
Wyoming NT Ben Florentine

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