Jayden Woods Added To Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List

Graphic: GatorBait Media

GatorBait Media Staff

Florida sophomore JACK Jayden Woods has been added to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list, the Maxwell Football Club announced Wednesday. The award goes annually to the top defensive player in college football.

Woods has been one of the breakout stories of Florida’s 4-0 start, posting 19 tackles, six tackles for loss and four sacks through four games — already more tackles for loss and sacks than he had all of last season, when he earned All-Freshman honors in the SEC.

He was named the Bednarik Award’s national Player of the Week after Florida’s 44-39 win over Auburn, when he racked up a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. The next week, against No. 4 Ole Miss, Woods added a strip-sack late in the third quarter that set up a Gators scoring drive in the 52-28 win.

Woods joins inside linebacker Myles Graham, a preseason selection, as the second Gator on this year’s Bednarik watch list.

Semifinalists for the award will be announced Nov. 10, with finalists named Nov. 24 and a winner crowned as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 10.

No. 8 Florida takes the watch-list news on the road, visiting No. 25 Missouri Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at Faurot Field.