Bednarik Award: Reigning winner Scooby Wright highlights preseason watch list

Why he's here: Because he has to be — he won this award last season. He did that by piling up 163 total tackles with 29.0 tackles for loss and 14.0 sacks. That's ridiculous.

Of note: Wright was just the second Pac-12 player to win the Bednarik since it started in 1995. The other? USC LB Ray Maualuga.

MORE: Top 25 front seven defensive players for 2015

Why he's here: Hargreaves is considered the best cover man in college football. Last season he recorded 50 tackles, intercepted three passes and had 13 pass breakups. He's always going to find himself matched up against the opponent's best receiver.

Of note: Hargreaves was a semifinalist for the Bednarik last season, is a preseason SN All-American and was an SN Freshman All-American two seasons ago.

MORE: SN Top 25 defensive backs for 2015

Why he's here: Because he dominated last season for the Buckeyes. He lived in opponents' backfields, totaling 21.0 tackles for loss for a staggering 116 yards in losses. He also had 13.5 sacks.

Of note: Also an SN Preseason All-American, Bosa is joined on this list by teammate Joshua Perry.

MORE: SN's updated Top 50 players for 2015

Why he's here: A semifinalist for this award a year ago, Calhoun had 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks in Mark Dantonio's defense.

Of note: Tackled an opponent behind the line of scrimmage in 10 of the Spartans' 13 games last season. Considered a high round draft pick in 2015, but instead, Calhoun returned to East Lansing for his senior season. 

MORE: Preseason Top 25

Why he's here: As a freshman in 2014, Garrett was as disruptive as anyone on the defensive side of the ball in the SEC. He had 11.5 sacks and 14.0 tackles for loss. 

Of note: How good was Garrett's first college season? He set the SEC and A&M mark for sacks in a season by a freshman — the previous record in the SEC was held by eventual No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney, who had 8.0 as a freshman.

MORE: Will September make or break these 12 teams?

Mackensie Alexander, Clemson

Kevin Anderson, Stanford

Budda Baker, Washington

Dante Barnett, Kansas State

Derek Barnett, Tennessee

Kendell Beckwith, LSU

Vince Biegel, Wisconsin

Zeek Bigger, East Carolina

Andrew Billings, Baylor

Quin Blanding, Virginia

Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Minnesota

Kentrell Brothers, Missouri

Kelby Brown, Duke

DeForest Buckner, Oregon

Michael Caputo, Wisconsin

Lloyd Carrington, Arizona State

Jeremy Cash, Duke

Brandon Chubb, Wake Forest

Kenny Clark, UCLA

Maliek Collins, Nebraska

Kamalei Correa, Boise State

Su’a Cravens, USC

Ed Davis, Michigan State

Sheldon Day, Notre Dame

Kyler Fackrell, Utah State

Leonard Floyd, Georgia

Josh Forrest, Kentucky

Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech

Adam Gotsis, Georgia Tech

Darius Hamilton, Rutgers

Tylor Harris, Wake Forest

Myles Jack, UCLA

William Jackson, Houston

Adoree’ Jackson, USC

Jordan Jenkins, Georgia

Chris Jones, Mississippi State

Karl Joseph, West Virginia

Bronson Kaufusi, BYU

Derrick Kindred, TCU

Shaq Lawson, Clemson

William Likely, Maryland

Curt Maggitt, Tennessee

Blake Martinez, Stanford

Tyler Matakevich, Temple

Cassanova McKinzy, Auburn

Jalen Mills, LSU

Antonio Morrison, Florida

Eric Murray, Minnesota

Dadi Nicolas, Virginia Tech

Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss

Jared Norris, Utah

Shawn Oakman, Baylor

Emmanuel Ogbah, Oklahoma State

Will Parks, Arizona

Joshua Perry, Ohio State

Davion Pierson, TCU

Reggie Ragland, Alabama

Jalen Ramsey, Florida State

Sheldon Rankins, Louisville

Will Redmond, Mississippi State

Pete Robertson, Texas Tech

A’Shawn Robinson, Alabama

Mike Rose, NC State

KeiVarae Russell, Notre Dame

Zack Sanchez, Oklahoma

Jovan Santos-Knox, Massachusetts

Terrance Smith, Florida State

Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame

Eric Striker, Oklahoma

Cameron Sutton, Tennessee

Charles Tapper, Oklahoma

Darian Thompson, Boise State

Jeremy Timpf, Army

Nick Vigil, Utah State

Scooby Wright, III, Arizona

Anthony Zettel, Penn State