Collin Oliver Named on Bronko Nagurski Preseason Watch List

College football must be close because it’s officially watch list season.

Collin Oliver was one of 94 players named on the Bronko Nagurski preseason watch list on Tuesday. The award is handed out annually to college football’s most outstanding defensive player.

The Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993. No Cowboy has ever taken home the hardware. An OSU fan might be thinking Kendal Daniels should be on this list, but his exclusion from the preseason watch list doesn’t stop him from winning the award, as players can be added or removed from the watch list throughout the season. Five finalists for the award will be named in November.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, Oliver makes the move to linebacker after spending his first two seasons of college football as a defensive end. In 27 games, Oliver has recorded 57 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks.

He was the unanimous Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2021, a year in which he recorded 10.5 sacks to help lead the Cowboys to a Fiesta Bowl win. He was also a Freshman All-American that season.

As a sophomore in 2022, Oliver was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection, and he made the Preseason All-Big 12 team this offseason.

Oliver was one of 11 Big 12 players on the list, joining:

T.J. Tamps (CB) — Iowa State
Cobee Bryant (CB) — Kansas
Kobe Savage (S) — Kansas State
Danny Stutsman (LB) — Oklahoma
Gabe Hall (DE) — Baylor
Jaylon Hutchings (DT) — Texas Tech
Jaylan Ford (LB) — Texas
Josh Newton (CB) — TCU
Dontay Corleone (DT) — Cincinnati
Jason Johnson (LB) — UCF

You can check out the full list of 94 here.