As much talk as there has been (including here at the Pac-12 blog) about how good the offenses in the conference will be this season, Thursday's release of the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the nation's best defensive player, and Outland Trophy, given to the nation's best interior lineman, shows the Pac-12 measures up well against other conferences in defensive talent, too.
The Pac-12 led all conferences with 18 players on the Nagurski list, edging out the SEC (16), Big 12 (13), ACC (12) and Big Ten (10). For the Outland Trophy, which includes a mix of defensive and offensive players, the Pac-12 ranked second with 11 players behind the SEC (19).
Stanford's Henry Anderson, USC's Leonard Williams and Washington's Danny Shelton are on both.
Here are the Pac-12 players that were included:
Danny Shelton, Washington, DT
Henry Anderson, Stanford, DE
Hau'oli Kikaha, Washington, DE
Tony Washington, Oregon, DE
Leonard Williams, USC, DE
Myles Jack, UCLA, LB
Eric Kendricks, UCLA, LB
Derrick Malone, Oregon, LB
Hayes Pullard, USC, LB
A.J. Tarpley, Stanford, LB
Shaq Thompson, Washington, LB
Alex Carter, Stanford, CB
Su'a Cravens, USC, S
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon, CB
Steven Nelson, Oregon State, CB
Marcus Peters, Washington, CB
Jordan Richards, Stanford, S
Jared Tevis, Arizona, S
Henry Anderson, Stanford, DL
Jake Brendel, UCLA, C
Andrus Peat, Stanford, OT
Isaac Seumalo, Oregon State, C
Jamil Douglas, Arizona State, OT
Danny Shelton, Washington, DL
Hroniss Grasu, Oregon, C
Max Tuerk, USC, C
Leonard Williams, USC, DL
Tyler Johnstone, Oregon, OT
Other watch lists