LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas junior defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr., was tabbed to the 2017 Chuck Bednarik Award watch list, the Maxwell Football Club announced Monday. Armstrong is the first Jayhawk to be considered for the award since Ben Heeney was on the 2014 Chuck Bednarik Award watch list.
The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995. Chuck Bednarik, former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles, is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of ’69 and the NFL Hall of Fame’s Class of ’67.
A native of Houston, Texas, Armstrong enters the 2017 season as the Big 12 Conference’s returning statistical leader in sacks (10.0), tackles-for-loss (20.0) and forced fumbles (3) and ranks second among returnees in fumbles recovered (2). Armstrong was a consensus first team All-Big 12 honoree in 2016, becoming Kansas’ first-ever unanimous first team selection by the league’s coaches.
Armstrong was among the best defensive players in the country in 2016, ranking fifth in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in tackles-for-loss and 18th in sacks. He tallied more sacks from his defensive end position than any Jayhawk has posted in the last 15 years with an even 10.0, including a six-game stretch where he had at least one sack in each outing.
Armstrong enters the 2017 campaign as a preseason Third-Team All-America selection and First Team All-Big 12 honoree by Athlon Sports. He is one of nine players from the Big 12 Conference on the Bednarik Award watch list.
Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be announced October 30, 2017, while the three finalists for the award will be unveiled November 20, 2017. The winners of the 2017 Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 7, 2017. The formal presentations of the award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 9, 2018.
Armstrong and his Jayhawk teammates will begin the 2017 season on Saturday, September 2 with a home game against Southeast Missouri State.
— KU Athletics —