2018 Preseason Award Projections: Thorpe Award

By Charlie Campbell
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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 May 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 Jim Thorpe Award is given to the top defensive back in college football. Last year, the Thorpe Award went to Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Thorpe Award Winner:

Greedy Williams, CB, LSU

Prior to Fitzpatrick winning it last year, recent Thorpe Award Winners have been players who were among the nation’s leaders in interceptions or productive in that category. Desmond King was second in the nation with seven picks the year he won it, and a previous winner was Gerod Holliman from Louisville, who had 14 interceptions in his final season before being a seventh-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Given that the Thorpe Award favors players who have big interception totals, that makes it much harder to predict. I think a few factors favor Williams as being a strong candidate to win the Thorpe Award.

Given the Thorpe Award’s affinity for players who produce big interception totals, Williams makes sense as he could have won it last year after being one of the nation’s leaders in picks with six interceptions. It was a breakout year as his first year of playing time. In pass coverage, Williams is an impressive cornerback. The first thing that stands out is his ability to run the route and prevent separation. Williams has enough speed to carry verticals and the recoverability to close gaps from breaks. He possesses quick feet and agility to stay in the hip pocket of wide outs. On top of his ability to run, Williams has excellent height and length, which make it tough to get the around him. On top of his physical skills, Williams has an impressive mental makeup as an instinctive player who plays the ball well. With his ball-hawking nature and his size, I could see Williams having another quality year for producing interceptions. Thus, it wouldn’t surprise me if Williams wins some postseason honors, like the Thorpe Award.




Thorpe Runner-Up:

Jaquan Johnson, S, Miami

The Hurricanes reestablished themselves as a team to be reckoned with in 2017, and their “turnover chain” became a media sensation. The player who sported that chain the most often for the Hurricanes was Johnson, who totaled four interceptions and three forced fumbles on the year. The junior also was a solid run defender with 96 tackles. Johnson showed big improvement over his sophomore year, when he had 38 tackles and two breakups with an interception. If Johnson is able to match last year’s production, he should definitely be a top candidate for the Jim Thorpe Award.




Thorpe Dark Horse:

Lukas Denis, S, Boston College

It can be hard for safeties to duplicate big interception totals because teams scheme away from ball-hawking safeties and some luck is involved in terms of opportunities. Thus, Denis could be a dark horse despite the fact that he was a ballhawk for Boston College in 2017, totaling seven interceptions with 10 passes broken up. He was second in the nation in interceptions. It will be a tall order to match last year’s production, but if he does, he could easily end up winning the Thorpe Award.

Honorable Mentions: Georgia’s DeAndre Baker, Florida’s Marco Wilson, Florida’s C.J. Henderson, Clemson’s Trayvon Mullen, Ohio State’s Damon Arnette, Virginia’s Juan Thornhill, Ohio State’s Kendall Sheffield, Stanford’s Alijah Holder, Auburn’s James Dean, Alabama’s Trevon Diggs, Clemson’s Mark Fields, Penn State’s Amani Oruwariye, Ole Miss’ Ken Webster, Notre Dame’s Julian Love, Northwestern Montre Hartage, Rutgers’ Blessuan Austin, Texas’ Kris Boyd, Washington’s Jordan Miller, Washburn’s Corey Ballentine, Troy’s Blace Brown and USC’s Iman Marshall.

Washington’s Taylor Rapp, North Alabama’s Chris Johnson, USC’s Marvell Tell III, Florida’s Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Mississippi State’s Jonathan Abram, Washington’s JoJo McIntosh, Delaware’s Nasir Adderley, Kentucky’s Mike Edwards, Ole Miss’ Zedrick Woods, Mississippi State’s Mark McLaurin, Rutger’s Saquan Hampton, Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, Michigan’s Khaleke Hudson, Michigan State’s David Dowell and Wyoming’s Andrew Wingard.











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