Alabama Football and more preseason award watch lists
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe kicked off preseason award watch list season for Crimson Tide fans when he made the Maxwell Award watch list earlier this week.
Several more Crimson Tide standouts have since been named to preseason watch lists for various awards, and several more will likely be honored over the next few weeks.
It is well understood that Alabama has a trio of elite specialists that should make it one of the best special teams units in the country. Senior long snapper Kneeland Hibbett was recently named to the Patrick Mannelly Award watch list for the best long snapper in college football. Along with a pair of All-Americans in kicker Graham Nicholson and punter James Burnip, Hibbett will help to stabilize Bama’s kicking units.
Senior safety Malachi Moore and redshirt junior inside linebacker Deontae Lawson have both been fixtures early on in watch list season. Both players were named to the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as well as the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Both of these awards honor the defensive player of the year as determined by their respective committees. Will Anderson Jr., a former teammate of both Moore and Lawson, won both of these awards in 2022.
Look for Malachi Moore and Deontae Lawson to also make the Bednarik Award watch list, another defensive player of the year award whose list will be announced in approximately two weeks. Lawson should be expected to make the Butkus Award watch list for the nation’s top linebacker, while Malachi Moore was named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list for the best defensive back in college football.
The strength of the Alabama Football team heading into the 2024 season is the interior lines of scrimmage on both sides of the football. As such, the Crimson Tide had three representatives on the Outland Trophy watch list for the top interior lineman in the sport.
Junior offensive guard Tyler Booker, redshirt sophomore center Parker Brailsford, and graduate defensive tackle Tim Smith all made the preseason watch list. Booker and Brailsford are both preseason All-Americans, while Smith has been a solid player but looks to live up to his 5-star billing in his fifth season on campus.
Alabama is so strong up front that one could argue players like redshirt junior guard Jaeden Roberts and redshirt junior defensive tackle Tim Keenan III were wrongfully excluded from the Outland Trophy watch list. Roberts and Keenan III burst onto the scene last season and proved to be instrumental in the trenches for Alabama. They should be even better this fall.
As more award watch lists come out, On3’s BamaOnline has a running tracker for any Alabama players that appear.