Alabama DE Jonathan Allen has won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for best defensive player of the year, a first in program history.
The Charlotte Touchdown Club shared a video of the announcement at Monday’s banquet on Twitter:
And the @NagurskiTrophy winner is…@AlabamaFTBL DE Jonathan Allen! #BronkoNagurskiBanquet pic.twitter.com/NkCfrSsVk9
— CLT Touchdown Club (@CTouchdownClub) December 6, 2016
Allen leads the team with 15 quarterback hurries and is a co-leader, with Tim Williams, With 8.5 sacks on the season. The defensive end is fifth on the team with 56 total tackles and third in tackles for loss with 13. The senior has also returned a team-leading two fumble recoveries for 105 combined yards and two touchdowns. With 26.5 career sacks, Allen is second on the Tide’s all-time list behind former Alabama standout and NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas.
Allen won out over a group of finalists that included teammate Reuben Foster.
The Football Writers Association of America has voted on a defensive player of the year every since 1993 and named the award after Nagurski, a legendary two-way player at Minnesota, in 1995.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
