Michigan Wolverines Cornerback Ambry Thomas Named to Thorpe Award Watch List
Michigan Wolverines cornerback Ambry Thomas has been named to the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award watch list, awarded annually to college football's top defensive back. Thomas joins 48 other defensive backs from across the nation on the watch list.
After battling colitis for much of the summer, Thomas bounced back and started all 13 games as a defensive back and also played special teams. He finished the season with 38 tackles, including 3.0 for loss, seven pass breakups with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Following his standout junior campaign, Thomas was named Michigan's Defensive Skill Player of the Year. He was also named to Pro Football Focus College's All-Big Ten second team. At 6-0, 182 pounds, Thomas is long, speedy and sticky in covering. He also has a knack for being around the ball and is extremely competitive. His three years at Michigan have been noticed and he is on a lot of preseason lists as one of the best cornerbacks in the Big Ten.
Thomas is the fifth different Michigan player to find himself on a watch list for a major award in the last week. Nico Collins was named to the Biltenikoff Award watch list, Kwity Paye and Thomas himself were both on the Bednarik Award watch list, Nick Eubanks is up for the John Mackey Award and Cameron McGrone found himself on the Dick Butkus Award watch list.
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
