Josh Allen wins Bronko Nagurski Trophy for Defensive Player of the Year

Kentucky senior linebacker Josh Allen has won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for National Defensive Player of the Year.

With 28.5 career sacks and 14 sacks in 2018, Allen was named the nation’s top defensive player over Michigan’s Devin Bush, LSU’s Grant Delpit, Clemson’s Christian Wilkins, and Alabama’s Quinnen Williams.

The award was announced this evening at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

Past recipients include Bradley Chubb (NC State), Jonathan Allen (Alabama), Aaron Donald (Pittsburgh), and Manti Te’o (Notre Dame), among others.

Allen is Kentucky’s first Nagurski Award winner and just the fourth SEC player to ever win, joining Georgia’s Champ Bailey (1998), LSU’s Glenn Dorsey (2007), and Alabama’s Jonathan Allen (2016).

As National Defensive Player of the Year, Allen also becomes Kentucky’s first College Football major trophy winner since Bob Gain won the Outland Trophy in 1950.

This afternoon, Allen was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous AP All-SEC first-team selection.

The senior pass rusher is also a finalist for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year, the Butkus Award (nation’s best linebacker), the Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player of the year), Lott IMPACT Trophy (defensive player of the year) and Ted Hendricks Award (defensive end of the year).

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