Kentucky Wildcat Football – Pre-Season Football Watch Lists: Kind of Like Middle School

Some time ago, longer than I would like to admit, a girl approached me and said her friend thought I was cute. I was excited, naturally, and asked if that meant she liked me. Her friend flatly responded,”No, but we’re going to see if you are cool enough to be her boyfriend”. I wasn’t and later found out I wasn’t high on the list of prospects, but I tell this random and seemingly pointless story to say this: pre-season watch lists are very similar. Committees tell you they are looking at you, just so you know you have eyes on you and to act as cool as possible, but you could be off that list as quickly as you were on it. So while this mentions and listings are exciting and potentially great news, performance must be proven and the stars have to show up.

Despite having a less than stellar year last year, there were undeniably bright spots in the line-up. Randall Cobb has long since ascended into the stars to take his rights place among the elder gods, and Mike Hartline has taken his place among the new Best Buy trainees, both ready to excel in their chosen (or federally mandated) positions. This year’s team seems to have less concentrated talent but more across the board, whether a result of gradual team-wide improvement or a result of Tee Martin’s recruiting prowess affecting players he didn’t even recruit. The stars of this team are strong, however, and other observers have begun to take notice.

Danny Trevathan (have you heard of him?) is now on three preseason watch lists, both individual (Bednarik & Nagurski) and tandem (Pony Express. What?). The Bednarik award, named after legend Chuck Bednarik, is given to the most outstanding defensive player in the country and DT-22 (new nickname I’m trying out. Like it? Hate it? Tell me in the comments) will be competing against other defensive players from across the country, including Florida State and Notre Dame. The Nagurski award is another that is handed out to the top defensive player in the country, although the award watch list is slightly longer than the Bednarik award, with 87 players being mentioned for the honor. Apparently raking in 144 tackles isn’t enough to get you on an award list with less than 20 people.

As a senior and more respected brother of Paul Warford, Larry Warford is probably a favorite around the Warford dinner table right now but the human mountain is also on the watch list for an award with his name being mentioned on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in the country. Warford recorded 43 elusively determined pancake blocks last year and has been a staple on the O-line since his freshman year when he was named to the All-SEC freshman team. College football’s 3rd oldest award has been given out since 1946 and if Warford can bring it to Lexington for a year, he would be the first since Bob Gain in 1950.

Ronnie Sneed forms the other half of Danny Trevathan’s award list nominations, with both being listed on the Pony Express Award watch list. The award is given out to the best 2-or-3 player tandem in the country and can include players from both sides of the ball. Sneed finished his junior year with 65 tackles and looks to improve on those numbers if he wants to hold up his end of the workload to stay on this list.

As I mentioned before, being on a watch list by no means guarantees you a spot at the table or a date with the popular girl in middle school, but it does mean somebody is noticing you and that gotta count for something, right? Right?

I have to go make a phone call, some girl just told me I was on her “Stop Watching Me” list and I want to see if that’s legally binding.

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