Gators pass rusher Jonathan Greenard named to Bednarik Award watch list

The graduate transfer pass-rushing specialist has been exceptional for the Gators this season, and his production is being noticed nationally.

Florida Gators pass rusher Jonathan Greenard has been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list for the 2019 season.

The Bednarik Award is handed out annually to the best defender in college football, decided upon by the Maxwell Football Club. You can find the rest of the 2019 watch list here.

After transferring to Florida from Louisville, the BUCK pass rusher has recorded four sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss in six games for the Gators this year. He also has tallied 27 quarterback pressures (per Pro Football Focus), three batted passes, a forced fumble, and an interception.

Greenard missed all but nine snaps for Louisville in 2018, breaking his wrist in their season opener against Alabama. Florida brought Greenard on board as a graduate transfer, given his familiarity with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham who coached him at Louisville in from 2015-16.

Florida needed to replace the 11 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss that Jachai Polite posted in 2018 as the team's BUCK pass rusher, and expected Greenard to fill in as a band-aid with experience while young defenders like Jeremiah Moon and Khris Bogle developed.

Greenard has surpassed those expectations and is now the "bell-cow" of Florida's pass-rushing unit. Paired with Jabari Zuniga, Moon, Bogle, interior defensive linemen Adam Shuler and Kyree Campbell, among others, the Gators own one of the most dominant pass rushes in the nation. 

The group has recorded a third-ranked 26 sacks, and 127 total QB pressures through the first six games of the 2019 season.