TEMPE, Ariz. – Redshirt senior linebacker Salamo Fiso was named to the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year Award preseason watch list while defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood was listed on the Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List, the Football Writers Association of America announced on Friday.
Fiso, who was also named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, returns for his final season as the most experienced starter for the Sun Devil defense. He has started 36 games in his career, leading the Sun Devil seniors, and needs 12 starts to match Evan Finkenberg's career record of 48. With 11 starts this season, he would tie Dexter Davis for most starts by a defensive player at ASU. Fiso has made 32 consecutive starts for the Sun Devils, six more than tight end Kody Kohl for the team lead.
In 2016, he ranked 12th in the country in solo tackles (78) and 8th in tackles for loss (20). With 36.5 tackles for loss in his career, Fiso is just 6.5 shy of cracking ASU's all-time top-10 list in the category while his 178 solo tackles put him in a prime spot to challenge Brett Wallerstedt's long-standing career record of 238 from 1989-92.
Fiso is one of 13 Pac-12 players named to the list, and makes it the second-straight season a Sun Devil has been selected along with Lloyd Carrington and Jordan Simone in 2015.
The Outland Trophy is annually presented to the nation's most outstanding interior lineman.
The junior is one of just 10 athletes selected from the Pac-12 and one of just three defensive linemen. Smallwood led all Sun Devil defensive linemen in total tackles in 2015 with 43 and was seventh overall. As a sophomore, he totaled 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 13 games. Over the course of the season, he set and tied his career high for tackles in a game with seven against Texas A&M and Utah – two of the top-ranked teams the Devils played in 2015.
In 2014, he became one of eight Sun Devils to start a season opener as a true freshman.
Smallwood's selection becomes the fourth consecutive season an ASU player has been named to the Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List.
The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993, and renamed the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
Once again, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week from early September through mid November. If not already on the watch list, the honored player will be added at that time. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Thurs., Nov. 17.
The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet, presented by ACN, will be held on Mon., Dec. 5 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. In addition to the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner's announcement, the banquet will also celebrate the recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, sponsored by the CTC and Florida East Coast Railway.
The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are a part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.
The list will be trimmed to six or seven semifinalists on Thurs., Nov. 17. Five days later, three Outland Trophy finalists will be named by the FWAA. The winner of the 71st Outland Trophy – named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century – will be announced on live on ESPN on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thurs., Dec. 8. For the second straight year, the show will air from the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held on Jan. 11, 2017, in Omaha, Neb. This year, Oklahoma's Greg Roberts, the 1978 Outland Trophy winner, will be honored and presented an Outland Trophy, which was not given in the era in which he won the award. In addition, former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, will receive the Tom Osborne Legacy Award at the same banquet.
Fiso, who was also named to the watch list for the Bednarik Award, returns for his final season as the most experienced starter for the Sun Devil defense. He has started 36 games in his career, leading the Sun Devil seniors, and needs 12 starts to match Evan Finkenberg's career record of 48. With 11 starts this season, he would tie Dexter Davis for most starts by a defensive player at ASU. Fiso has made 32 consecutive starts for the Sun Devils, six more than tight end Kody Kohl for the team lead.
In 2016, he ranked 12th in the country in solo tackles (78) and 8th in tackles for loss (20). With 36.5 tackles for loss in his career, Fiso is just 6.5 shy of cracking ASU's all-time top-10 list in the category while his 178 solo tackles put him in a prime spot to challenge Brett Wallerstedt's long-standing career record of 238 from 1989-92.
Fiso is one of 13 Pac-12 players named to the list, and makes it the second-straight season a Sun Devil has been selected along with Lloyd Carrington and Jordan Simone in 2015.
The Outland Trophy is annually presented to the nation's most outstanding interior lineman.
The junior is one of just 10 athletes selected from the Pac-12 and one of just three defensive linemen. Smallwood led all Sun Devil defensive linemen in total tackles in 2015 with 43 and was seventh overall. As a sophomore, he totaled 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 13 games. Over the course of the season, he set and tied his career high for tackles in a game with seven against Texas A&M and Utah – two of the top-ranked teams the Devils played in 2015.
In 2014, he became one of eight Sun Devils to start a season opener as a true freshman.
Smallwood's selection becomes the fourth consecutive season an ASU player has been named to the Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List.
The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993, and renamed the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football then became a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
Once again, the FWAA will announce a National Defensive Player of the Week from early September through mid November. If not already on the watch list, the honored player will be added at that time. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Thurs., Nov. 17.
The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet, presented by ACN, will be held on Mon., Dec. 5 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. In addition to the 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner's announcement, the banquet will also celebrate the recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, sponsored by the CTC and Florida East Coast Railway.
The Outland Trophy winner is chosen from three finalists who are a part of the annual FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects a 26-man first team and eventually the three Outland finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot, select the winner. Only interior linemen on offense or defense are eligible for the award; ends are not eligible.
The list will be trimmed to six or seven semifinalists on Thurs., Nov. 17. Five days later, three Outland Trophy finalists will be named by the FWAA. The winner of the 71st Outland Trophy – named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Penn at the turn of the 20th century – will be announced on live on ESPN on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thurs., Dec. 8. For the second straight year, the show will air from the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
The Outland Trophy presentation banquet, sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, will be held on Jan. 11, 2017, in Omaha, Neb. This year, Oklahoma's Greg Roberts, the 1978 Outland Trophy winner, will be honored and presented an Outland Trophy, which was not given in the era in which he won the award. In addition, former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, will receive the Tom Osborne Legacy Award at the same banquet.
