One 'Nole Included, One Snubbed from Thorpe Award Watch List

Could FSU see its third winner of this honor?

Earlier today, those of us running Sports Illustrated's ACC sites released our 2020 Preseason All-ACC Football Team. It includes three Seminoles, but I made the point that Florida State safety Hamsah Nasirildeen was a noticeable omission. Fellow defensive back Asante Samuel Jr. did make the team, so the all-conference squad reflects the inverse of the 2020 Thorpe Award Watch List, which also dropped today. 

As you can see below, Nasirildeen is an initial candidate, while Samuel did not make the 49-player list included below, a rather ridiculous snubbing. Deion Sanders and Terrell Buckley are previous winners of the Thorpe Award at FSU.

Paulson Adebo, Stanford, Sr.
Reed Blankenship, Middle Tennessee State, Sr.
Eric Burrell, Wisconsin, Sr.
Camryn Bynum, California, Sr.
T.J. Carter, Memphis, Sr.
Andre Cisco, Syracuse, So.
Kenderick Duncan, Jr., Georgia Southern, Jr.
Greg Eisworth, Iowa State, Sr.
Kaiir Elam, Florida, So.
Caleb Farley, Virginia Tech, Jr.
Paris Ford, Pitt, Jr.
Kaleb Ford-Dement, Old Dominion, Jr.
Darrick Forrest, Cincinnati, Sr.
Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati, So.
Thomas Graham, Jr., Oregon, Sr.
Richie Grant, UCF, Sr.
Darren Hall, San Diego State, Jr.
Brontae Harris, UAB, Sr.
Kolby Harvell-Peel, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Tyrone Hill, Buffalo, Sr.
Jevon Holland, Oregon, Jr.
Talanoa Hufanga,USC, Jr.
Shaun Jolly, Appalachian State, Jr.
Kekaula Kaniho, Boise State, Sr.
Derion Kendrick, Clemson, Jr.
Richard LeCounte, Georgia, Sr.
Trevon Moehrig, TCU, Jr.
Elijah Molden, Washington, Sr.
Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina, Jr.
Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State, Sr.
Dell Pettus, Troy, So.
Antonio Phillips, Ball State, Sr.
Aaron Robinson, UCF, Sr.
Emmanuel Rugamba, Miami (OH), Sr.
Caden Sterns, Texas, So.
JaCoby Stevens, LSU, Sr.
Derek Stingley, Jr., LSU, So.
Eric Stokes, Georgia, Jr.
Corey Straughter, ULM, Sr.
Patrick Surtain II, Alabama, Jr.
Ambry Thomas, Michigan, Sr.
Tariq Thompson, San Diego State, Sr.
Amechi Uzodinma, Ball State, Jr.
Shaun Wade, Ohio State, Jr.
Lamont Wade, Penn State, Sr.
Jalen Walker, Boise State, Sr.
Jermaine Waller, Virginia Tech, Jr.
Sterling Weatherford, Miami (OH), Jr.
James Wiggins, Cincinnati, Sr.

By Conference

AAC (6), ACC (6), BIG 10 (4), BIG 12 (4), C-USA (3), MAC (5), MW (4), PAC-12 (6), SEC (7), SUN BELT (4)