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Heading into the 2018 college football season, WalterFootball.com will debut our projections for the nation’s leaders during the fall. The All-American teams always have some surprises, and the next fall’s stars could be the headline players next April for the 2019 NFL Draft. We also will project the winners of the postseason awards that are given out to the best of college football.
The Ted Hendricks Award is given to the best defensive end in college football. Last year’s winner was N.C. State defensive end Bradley Chubb.
Hendricks Award Winner:
Nick Bosa, Ohio State The Hendricks Award favors players with big sack production, and the talented Bosa easily could put together a massive junior year. Like his older brother, Joey, Nick Bosa looks like an elite edge defender. He is fast off the edge with the ability fire by tackles to get upfield. Bosa has excellent hands with functional strength to fight off blocks, a burst to close, and will put quarterbacks down hard. In the ground game, Bosa is solid, but his pass-rush potential is what excites. He had 34 tackles, 8.5 sacks, two passes batted and one forced fumble in 2017. Bosa was the Buckeyes’ best defensive end even though he rotated with Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis and Jalyn Holmes. Bosa could explode as a junior as that trio left for the NFL and he should play a much higher volume of snaps in 2018. That could lead to him putting together a massive season and being a clear choice as the winner of the Hendricks Award.
Hendricks Award Runner-Up:
Clelin Ferrell, Clemson In 2017, Clemson fielded a defensive line that was comprised of future first-round picks, and Ferrell was arguably the most consistent of the bunch. He created a lot of the big plays for the Tigers’ other defensive linemen with the instant pressure he caused off the snap. Fellow defensive end Austin Bryant spent 2017 playing himself into an early-rounder, but Bryant did well cleaning up a lot of scrambling quarterbacks running away from Ferrell.
Ferrell has superb speed with athleticism and the ability bend around the corner. He is very fast off the snap to get upfield and put quick pressure on the quarterback. Ferrell is more disruptive than his stat line indicates as well. In 2017, he totaled 66 tackles with 18 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, one pass batted and two forced fumbles. In 2016, Ferrell had an impressive redshirt freshman season for the Tigers as he totaled 44 tackles with 12.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks and two passes batted. With Bryant and first-round talents in Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence next to Ferrell on the defensive line, it will be hard for teams to focus all their attention on Ferrell. He could put together a huge year to earn the Hendricks Award.
Hendricks Award Dark Horse:
Montez Sweat, Mississippi State Sweat debuted for the Bulldogs with an excellent 2017 season. The dynamic edge defender totaled an SEC-leading 10.5 sacks, with 15.5 tackles for a loss and 48 tackles for the year. To start out his collegiate career, Sweat played at Michigan State before some disciplinary issues led to him leaving for the junior college ranks at Co-Lin Community College. With Jeff Simmons causing a lot of disruption on the inside, Sweat could clean up scrambling quarterbacks and put together a big 2018 season.
Honorable Mentions: Miami’s Joe Jackson, Boston College’s Zach Allen, Florida State’s Brian Burns, Oregon’s Jalen Jelks, Clemson’s Austin Bryant, Florida’s CeCe Jefferson, Old Dominion’s Oshane Ximines, Wyoming’s Carl Granderson, USC’s Porter Gustin, TCU’s Ben Banogu, USC’s Christian Rector, Iowa’s Anthony Nelson, Notre Dame’s Daelin Hayes, Penn State’s Shareef Miller, Louisiana Tech’s Jaylon Ferguson and Florida’s Jabari Zuniga.
2018 Preseason All-American Projections:
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S | K/P
2018 Preseason Postseason Award Projections:
Thorpe Award | Lombardi Award | Biletnikoff Award | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Outland Trophy | Rimington Trophy | Mackey Award | Maxwell Award | Hendricks Award | O'Brien Award | Doak Walker Award | Bednarik Award | Nagurski Award | Hornung Award | Jet Award | Walter Camp Award | Ray Guy Award | Groza Award | Heisman Trophy |
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S | K/P
2018 Preseason Postseason Award Projections:
Thorpe Award | Lombardi Award | Biletnikoff Award | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Outland Trophy | Rimington Trophy | Mackey Award | Maxwell Award | Hendricks Award | O'Brien Award | Doak Walker Award | Bednarik Award | Nagurski Award | Hornung Award | Jet Award | Walter Camp Award | Ray Guy Award | Groza Award | Heisman Trophy |
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