EUGENE — Oregon Ducks offensive linemen Shane Lemieux, Calvin Throckmorton and Jake Hanson, and defensive tackle Jordon Scott are all together on a preseason award watch list.
Lemieux, Throckmorton, Hanson and Scott are among the 83 players on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, which is presented annually to the nation’s best interior lineman. Michigan is the only other school with four players on the watch list; Georgia has three and the Pac-12 has 12 total.
Throckmorton, the lone returning FWAA All-American interior lineman, and Lemieux are widely considered among the best returning offensive linemen in the country.
Throckmorton, a second-team FWAA All-American last season, had an 87.4 pass blocking grade, which tied for fourth among returning FBS tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
Lemieux had a run blocking grade of 84.8 last season, best among Pac-12 interior linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.
Hanson had a run blocking grade of 66.5 last season, per PFF.
Scott, who had 29 tackles with 3.5 for loss, including one sack last season, had an overall grade of 77.7 from PFF.
An Oregon player has never won the Outland Trophy, which went to Alabama’s Quinnen Williams last year, though Jake Fisher (2014) and Haloti Ngata (2005) were finalists.
The Outland Trophy is selected among the interior linemen on the FWAA All-America team. Up to eight semifinalists will be announced Nov. 20 and three finalists will be named Nov. 25. The winner of the 74th Outland Trophy will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 12 and will be formally presented with the award during the Outland Trophy awards dinner Jan. 15, 2020, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Throckmorton and Lemieux are the seventh and eighth Oregon players named to preseason watch lists, while it’s the second honor for Scott and Hanson, who were previously named to the Nagurski and Rimington trophy lists, respectively. Troy Dye is on the watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy and Bednarik, Butkus and Lott IMPACT awards, Justin Herbert is on lists for the Maxwell and O’Brien awards, and CJ Verdell and Travis Dye are each on the Walker award watch list.