TCU Football: Newton Named To 2023 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Watch List

This annual award is presented to the nation’s top defensive back

Watch List Season has been in full force the last couple of weeks, with several TCU football players named multiple watch lists for the end-of-season awards. Josh Newton, TCU cornerback, has been named to many. On Thursday, he was added to yet another watch list - the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award watch list.

TCU players have won two of the last three awards. Last year, Tre’Vius Hodges Tomlinson won the 2022 Jim Thorpe Award. And in 2020, TCU’s Tre’von Moehrig won the award. Hodges-Tomlinson is about to begin his rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams. Moehrig is in his third year with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Other Big 12 players on the watch list include Cobee Bryant (Kansas), Kobe Savage (Kansas State), and TJ Tampa (Iowa State).

A total of 75 players were named to this year’s preseason watch list. For the complete watch list, click here.

Newton was First-Team All-Big 12 in his first season as a Horned Frog in 2022, playing a pivotal role as TCU reached the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Pro Football Focus rated Newton's 81.9 grade as the best among TCU cornerbacks last season. PFF also had him fourth among Power Five cornerbacks with a 35.3 percent completion rate allowed and as the third-most valuable returning Power Five corner, per its wins above average metric.

Starting all 15 games, Newton ranked second on TCU and in the Big 12 with 12 pass breakups, trailing only teammate Hodges-Tomlinson (15). Newton tied for second on the Horned Frogs with three interceptions, including one returned 57 yards for a touchdown in a win over Iowa State. He totaled 35 stops on the year, including a tackle for loss at Colorado on the season's opening play and his first snap as a Horned Frog.

Newton's 47 career starts tie for the most among active players in college football.

A native of Monroe, La., Newton also appears on watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and Wuerffel Trophy while being nominated for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

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