B1G's 5 top preseason college football major award candidates

The Big Ten has eight players on the Athlon’s preseason All-American first team.

So the conference has no shortage of candidates for major college football awards in the 2019 season.

The B1G earned three major honors after the 2018 season. T.J. Hockenson of Iowa was named the John Mackey Award winner as the nation’s top tight end but he’s gone to the NFL now.

However, the conference’s other two major national award winners return for this season and they are atop our list of the 5 top preseason candidates to win awards again in 2019.

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin, Doak Walker Award

The last player to earn back-to-back Doak Walker Awards was Darren McFadden of Arkansas in 2006-07. Taylor is a strong candidate to match that and win the honor as the nation’s best running back twice. The Badgers junior has already rushed for 4,171 yards and 29 touchdowns in two touchdowns in just two seasons. He’s running behind the usual beefy, efficient Wisconsin offensive line including Tyler Biadasz, a Dave Rimington Award candidate as the nation’s best center.

Rondale Moore, Purdue, Paul Hornung Award

This might be the most obvious candidate for any major award in the nation. The Boilermakers sophomore won the award as the nation’s most versatile player last season and should put up even bigger numbers in 2019. Moore was certainly not intimidated by facing big-time opposition as a freshman, as evidenced in his spectacular day (252 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns) in Purdue’s upset victory over Ohio State. The Boilermakers will, if anything, perhaps rely on Moore even more than last season.

Jordan Fuller, Ohio State, Jim Thorpe Award

Only Oklahoma, with three winners, has claimed the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back more often than Ohio State since the honor was instituted in 1986 (several other schools have also won it twice). Fuller, a senior safety, looks to join Antoine Winfield (1998) and Malcolm Jenkins (2008) as Buckeyes to snag the honor. Fuller decided to pass on the NFL Draft to return for one last season in Columbus after leading OSU in tackles with 81 in 2018.

Micah Parsons, Penn State, Butkus Award

We’re going a little bit off the map for this award as the nation’s best linebacker. Parsons isn’t even a preseason first-team all-Big Ten selection according to Athlon’s but he’s one of those players who could explode as a sophomore this season. Nittany Lions coaches are even toying with the idea of having him do more than just play defense. In any event there is a reason that he was rated the B1G’s No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2018 and Parsons is an ideal candidate to take a big leap forward in 2019.

Kenny Willekes, Michigan State, Nagurski Trophy

This is a really tough call for the nation’s best defensive player. The Spartans senior is up against some stout defensive linemen just in his own conference — standouts like Ohio State’s Chase Young, Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa, Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos — and players on other levels of defense like Fuller, Michigan’s Josh Metellus and teammate Joe Bachie, the standout linebacker. And that’s just in the Big Ten. But the thought here is that Willekes, the 6-4, 262-pound senior, will have plenty of chances to shine.