Three Oklahoma State Players Who Could Land on Outland, Nagurski Watch Lists
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Unlike the Maxwell Award, the watch lists for the Outland Trophy and the Nagurski Award were less fruitful for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Both awards released their initial watch lists on Tuesday and there were no Cowboys on either list. Considering how bad the Cowboys’ defense was a year ago — and how so few players are returning from last year’s team — that’s not a big surprise.
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the nation’s standout interior lineman. Offensive tackles, guards, center and defensive tackles are included on the list. The Nagurski Award honors the nation’s best defensive player. Semifinalists and finalists are named in November. Both awards will name a player of the week, and if that player isn’t already on the initial watch list, they’ll be added.
With no Cowboys on the list, here are three players that could end up on the watch list at some point this season.
LB Ethan Wesloski (Nagurski)
Of the players on defense, Wesloski has the best chance to claim a Nagurski defensive player of the week award and get on the watch list.
At North Texas last year, he led the team with 113 tackles (59 solo) with nine tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception and six quarterback hurries. He was second in the American Conference in both total tackles and solo tackles as he earned second-team all-American Conference honors. He had a career-high 17 tackles against Rice.
He played in this defense last season and under the same coordinator, Skyler Cassity, who made the trip to Stillwater with his boss, new OSU head coach Eric Morris.
If he has a great game that lines up with a power conference opponent, he could easily end up on this list.
LT Braydon Nelson (Outland)
Nelson is probably the best positioned of the offensive linemen to land on the Outland list at some point. Like Wesloski, he played at North Texas last season and is playing for the same coaching staff and in the same offense. With the Mean Green he was a second-team all-American Conference honoree and Pro Football Focus scored him at 73.2, making him the seventh-highest rated offensive lineman in the conference.
The constellation of offensive stars on this team — quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young among them — should pull Nelson along toward awards, especially if the group is putting up big numbers.
DE Jaleel Johnson (Nagurski)
Johnson is preparing for his final season, and he would love to make the kind of impact that would put him on the radar for national awards. Of the players on the defensive line, Johnson is the one that appears to have the highest ceiling to get there.
Johnson has three career sacks. He would have to overperform his entire career over the first two months of the season. Morris and the coaching staff respect him and are going to give him every chance to win playing time. If he overperforms and impacts the Cowboys’ pass rush in a way that helps them content for a Big 12 title game berth, he has a chance.
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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