Miami Hurricanes, safety Jaquan Johnson, linebacker Shaq Quarterman and cornerback Michael Jackson have all been selected to the ACC preseason all-conference team and the watch list for the Nagurski Trophy for 2018.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy honors the best defensive player in College Football. The Trophy is named in honor of former University of Minnesota and Chicago Bears great Bronko Nagurski. All three Miami Hurricanes defenders were named preseason first-team All-ACC. Only the first team was announced.
Two Miami Hurricanes have previously been honored as winners of the Nagurski Trophy. Warren Sapp won the Trophy in 1994 and Dan Morgan in 2000.
Canes Warning has repeatedly profiled Johnson throughout the offseason. He has been piling up preseason recognition and seeing his name on multiple watch lists. This is the third trophy watch list that Johnson has been named to ahead of this season.
Johnson is on the watch list for the Bednarik Award that honors the best defensive player and the Thorpe Award given to the nation’s best cornerback. This is also the second preseason first-team All-ACC mention that Johnson has received. He was previously selected to Athlon Sports All-ACC.
Other honors Johnson has received ahead of the 2018 season are being named first-team All-American by UPI and Athlon Sports, the eighth best player in the country by Sports Illustrated and the third best safety in the nation by the College Football News.
Canes Warning previously summarized Johnson’s 2017 season when it was announced he was on the watch list for the Thorpe Award.
“Johnson was the Miami Hurricanes Most Valuable Player in 2017. He led Miami with 54 solo tackles, 42 assists and 96 total tackles and three forced fumbles. Johnson also tied for the team lead with four interceptions, one interception return for a touchdown and two fumble recoveries.”
Jackson is also on the Thorpe Award watch list for 2018. We similarly took a look at his 2017 season in the same article about the announcement of the players on the watch list for the award honoring the nation’s best defensive back.
“Some of Jackson honors heading into 2018 are being named All-ACC second-team by Athlon and the sixth-best cornerback in the country by CFN. Jackson emerged as a Junior last season. He played primarily on special teams before starting ten games in 2017. Jackson returned a fumble for a touchdown in 2016 at Notre Dame.”
Quarterman picked up his third watch list of the preseason. He was previously named to the watch lists for the Butkus Award honoring the nation’s top linebacker and the Bednarik Award. Like Jackson and Johnson, Canes Warning also previously profiled Quarterman.
“Quarterman has finished second on Miami in tackles in each of his two seasons. As a Freshman, Quarterman had 84 tackles, ten tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one pass breakup and a very memorable fumble return for a touchdown.”
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With the season opener still more than a month away, the watch lists and preseason honors should continue to pile up for the Miami Hurricanes. The expectations are high following last season’s ACC Coastal Division title, ACC Championship game and Orange Bowl game appearances.