Three LSU Football Players Named to the Bednarik Award Watch List
Derek Stingley Jr. proved to be one of the best defensive players in the country during his freshman 2019 season, and the preseason accolades only continue to grow in number.
On Monday, Stingley, along with teammates Jabril Cox and JaCoby Stevens joined an elite group of college defensive players when he was announced to the Bednarik Award watch list. The Bednarik Award is presented by the Maxwell Club and is given annually to the best defensive player in college football.
Last year’s winner was Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young after his dominant season with the Buckeyes which resulted in Young being selected No. 2 overall by Washington. Other past winners are Minkah Fitzpatrick, Aaron Donald, Ndamunkong Suh, Julius Peppers and Charles Woodson.
If Stingley, Cox or Stevens were to take home the award in 2020, they’d become the third member of the LSU program to win the award, joining Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu, who won in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011.
Stingley was a consensus All-American in his first season with the LSU program but Orgeron and company believed he hasn’t scratched the surface of his potential. LSU plans on utilizing Stingley in a variety of ways in 2020, not just as a pure man-to-man cover corner.
“I think this year you’re not going to see us just use Derek in man free coverage, I think you’re going to see him blitzing, I think you’re going to see him use his talents in some places where we need him on defense,” Orgeron said. “I think Bo’s going to mix it up where he’s going to have our corners doing different things.”
Stevens particularly can’t wait to play under Bo Pelini, saying his strength as a defensive coordinator is scheming his defense around the talents of his players.
“He's going to be a guy the NFL — they're just going to be standing in line to try to get this guy on their football team because he can do so many things," Pelini said on Hangin’ With Hester back in April. "He's tough, he's physical, he's smart. He's got a lot of potential."
As for Cox, the senior linebacker from North Dakota State is already impressing the coaching staff as they think he could be day one starter at the MIC.
“Quiet, mature, very focused and reminds me a lot of Damone Clark," Orgeron said. "He's very professional, goes about his business. He came here to be a great player and comes from a tremendous winning culture at North Dakota State so all of the early reports have been A+ on him."
To see the full rundown of the Bednarik watch list, click here.
