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Three Mountain West Players Named To Ted Hendricks Award Watchlist
Carl Granderson, Curtis Weaver and Korey Rush are named among the country’s top defensive ends.
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Does the Mountain West have a shot?
Watchlist season continued today with the release of the Ted Hendricks Award watchlist. Given annually to the nation’s best defensive end, there are three names from the Mountain West among 48 on this year’s preseason list.
The list is headlined by Boise State’s Curtis Weaver and Wyoming’s Carl Granderson, who finished with 11 and 8.5 sacks, respectively, which were first and second in the Mountain West. Granderson, however, led the conference with 16 tackles for loss, whereas Weaver finished in a tie for fourth with 13.
Nevada’s Korey Rush, meanwhile, might seem like a surprise entrant on the watchlist, but he was very quietly one of the Mountain West’s most productive linemen last fall. In 2017, he picked up nine tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks for the Wolf Pack.
Though the conference certainly has the talent to win it, expect an uphill climb: No Group of 5 athlete has won the Ted Hendricks Award since TCU’s Jerry Hughes in 2009. Last year’s winner was North Carolina State’s Bradley Chubb.
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