AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn defensive linemen Derrick Brown and Nick Coe are two of the 92 players on the 2019 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Presentation Watch List.
Created in 1993 by the Football Writers Association of America, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy is presented annually to college football's best defensive player by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
The award was established to complement the Heisman Trophy Award, which at the time had never been presented to a defensive player.
Brown, a 6-5 defensive tackle from Sugar Hill, Georgia, has 115 career tackles, including 48 as a junior in 2018, when he earned second team All-SEC honors by the league's coaches and the Associated Press.
Brown has tallied nine career sacks and 21 tackles for loss, including 10.5 in 2018.
A 6-5, 291-pound redshirt junior from Asheboro, North Carolina, Coe recorded seven sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss and 27 tackles last season. In 2017, he made the SEC All-Freshman team after making 29 tackles, including 4.5 TFLs and a pair of sacks.
Brown and Coe were both selected to the preseason All-SEC team at the conclusion of SEC Media Days, with Brown garnering first team honors and Coe voted to the second team by reporters.
In mid-November, the watch list will be pared to five finalists, from which the winner will be chosen and presented on Monday, Dec. 9 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Players from the Southeastern Conference have won the Nagurski Trophy twice in the past three seasons, including Kentucky's Josh Allen in 2016.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer