Florida Gators CB Kaiir Elam Named to Thorpe Award Watch List
Florida Gators cornerback Kaiir Elam has been named to the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award watch list, awarded annually to college football's top defensive back. Elam joins 48 other defensive backs from across the nation on the watch list.
Seeing action in 13 games, starting five, Elam established himself on the boundary as a true freshman by recording three interceptions and four defended passes. Elam allowed 10 receptions across 23 targets, according to Pro Football Focus, with quarterbacks generating a mere 18.3 passer rating when throwing his way.
Elam stepped up in place of future first-round pick C.J. Henderson earlier in the 2019 season when Henderson suffered an ankle injury, and again when Henderson skipped the 2019 Orange Bowl in preparation for the NFL Draft. The bright lights of a bowl game were no pressure on Elam, who secured a crucial interception to maintain a two-possession lead late in the fourth quarter, along with another two pass breakups.
Elam is the fourth UF player to find himself on a watch list for a major award in the past week. Quarterback Kyle Trask was named to the Davey O'Brien Award watch list on July 14th, tight end Kyle Pitts found himself on both the Biletnikoff and Mackey Award watch lists in the following days, and linebacker Ventrell Miller was named to the Butkus Award watch list this morning.
Below, you can find the entire watch list for the 2020 Thorpe Award, listed alphabetically.
Paulson Adebo , Stanford
Reed Blankenship , Middle Tennessee State
Eric Burrell , Wisconsin
Camryn Bynum , California
T.J. Carter , Memphis
Andre Cisco , Syracuse
Kenderick Duncan, Jr. , Georgia Southern
Greg Eisworth, Iowa State
Kaiir Elam , Florida
Caleb Farley , Virginia Tech
Paris Ford , Pitt
Kaleb Ford-Dement , Old Dominion
Darrick Forrest , Cincinnati
Ahmad Gardner , Cincinnati
Thomas Graham, Jr. , Oregon
Richie Grant , UCF
Darren Hall , San Diego State
Brontae Harris , UAB
Kolby Harvell-Peel , Oklahoma State
Tyrone Hill , Buffalo
Jevon Holland , Oregon
Talanoa Hufanga , USC
Shaun Jolly , Appalachian State
Kekaula Kaniho , Boise State
Derion Kendrick , Clemson
Richard LeCounte , Georgia
Trevon Moehrig , TCU
Elijah Molden , Washington
Israel Mukuamu , South Carolina
Hamsah Nasirildeen , Florida State
Dell Pettus , Troy
Antonio Phillips , Ball State
Aaron Robinson , UCF
Emmanuel Rugamba , Miami (OH)
Caden Sterns , Texas
JaCoby Stevens , LSU
Derek Stingley, Jr. , LSU
Eric Stokes , Georgia
Corey Straughter , ULM
Patrick Surtain II , Alabama
Ambry Thomas , Michigan
Tariq Thompson , San Diego State
Amechi Uzodinma , Ball State
Shaun Wade , Ohio State
Lamont Wade , Penn State
Jalen Walker , Boise State
Jermaine Waller , Virginia Tech
Sterling Weatherford , Miami (OH)
James Wiggins , Cincinnati
