No Oklahoma Players Named to Jim Thorpe Award Watch List

A rare major award watch list without an Oklahoma representative.

In what has been a fruitful couple of weeks for the Sooners in terms of receiving recognition for many of college football’s most prestigious honors, OU was left off of one of note this week in the Jim Thorpe Award.

Congratulations to these 35 defensive backs on our 2022 @Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watchlist!

Link to the full press release: https://t.co/1Nj6OOl8vS pic.twitter.com/eSF4NQyhpi
— Paycom Jim Thorpe Award (@jimthorpeaward) July 25, 2022

The Thorpe Award, named after Oklahoma icon Jim Thorpe, is presented annually to the best defensive back in college football.

The honor, which is presented right up the road from Norman in Oklahoma City, featured no Sooners on their preseason watch list of 35 players.

Players such as Woodi Washington or Key Lawrence certainly seem like the most obvious possibilities for OU that were left off.

Of course, getting excluded from the preseason watch list has no bearing on a player’s chances of winning the award, and thus both Washington, Lawrence and the rest of the Oklahoma secondary can still have hopes of becoming the fourth player in program history to win the honor.

Previously, Rickey Dixon (1987), Roy Williams (2001) and Derrick Strait (2003) took home the hardware, but OU is currently in a near two-decade stretch without a winner.

Last year’s winner, Cincinnati’s Coby Bryant, had 44 total tackles with 11 pass deflections and two interceptions to help the Bearcats have one of the stronger secondaries in the country.

In an offseason already loaded with motivation for Oklahoma, the Thorpe Award snub could provide just a little extra juice for the OU defensive backs as the season approaches.

The Sooners open their campaign against UTEP on Saturday, Sept. 3 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.