HOUSTON, Texas – Toledo linebacker Dallas Gant was one of 78 student-athletes named to the 2023 Lombardi Award Watch List, as announced by the Rotary Club of Houston Tuesday. 

The Lombardi Award™ goes annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to outstanding performance and ability. 

Gant was a First-Team All-MAC selection in 2022. He led the team with 116 tackles and ranked 10th in the MAC and 57th in the nation with 8.3 tackles/game. He is also on the Wuerffel Trophy watch list, given annually to the college football player who best serves others and the Butkus Award watch list, given annually to the best linebacker in college football. 

This year’s watch list is filled with talent from many schools and conferences, making for an exciting voting process. To be considered for the Lombardi Award™, players must be an NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications: 

• Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.

• Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage. 

• Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver.

• Be eligible to participate in the current season.

A midseason watch list will be released on Oct 13 to reflect any updates to the current list.
 

#MACtion on the 2023 Watch Lists

Maxwell Award Watch List
Alex Adams | WR | Akron 
Marquez Cooper | RB | Ball State 
Samson Evans | RB | Eastern Michigan
Kurtis Rourke | QB | Ohio 
Dequan Finn | QB | Toledo 

Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Shaun Dolac | LB | Buffalo
Marcus Fuqua | S | Buffalo
Maxen Hook | S | Toledo
Donte Kent | CB | Central Michigan
Quinyon Mitchell | CB | Toledo
Devonte O'Malley | DT | NIU

Outland Trophy Watch List
Ethan Crowe | C | Ball State
Nolan Potter | OT | NIU
Nick Rosi | OT | Toledo
Deiyantei Powell-Woods | G | Central Michigan
Daymond Williams | DT | Buffalo

Lou Groza Watch List
Alex McNulty | K | Buffalo 
Jesús Gómez | K | Eastern Michigan

Ray Guy Watch List
Dom Dzioban | P | Miami
Lucas Borrow | P | Ball State
Mitchell Tomasek | P | Eastern Michigan

Wuerffel Award Watch List
Clayton Coll | LB | Ball State
Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim | WR | BGSU
Austin Osborne | WR | BGSU
Brock Horne | LB | BGSU
Darren Anders | LB | BGSU
Demetrius Hardamon | LB | BGSU 
Max Michel | DE | Buffalo
Robi Stuart | DL | Central Michigan
Brian Dooley | OL | Eastern Michigan
Dallas Gant | LB | Toledo 
Boone Bonnema | LB | Western Michigan

Paul Hornung Award Watch List
Ron Cook Jr. | RB  | Buffalo
Trayvon Rudolph | WR  | Northern Illinois
Jacquez Stuart | RB | Toledo

The Rimington Trophy Watch List 
Jacob Gideon | C | Western Michigan

Mackey Award Watch List
Brady Hunt | TE | Ball State

Biletnikoff Award Watch List
Alex Adams | WR | Akron
Jerjuan Newton | WR | Toledo
Sam Wiglusz | WR | Ohio

Davey O’Brien Watch List
Dequan Finn | QB | Toledo
Kurtis Rourke | QB | Ohio

Doak Walker Award Watch List
Sieh Bangura | RB | Ohio
Samson Evans | RB | Eastern Michigan
Antario Brown | RB | Northern Illinois

Butkus Award Watch List
Shaun Dolac | LB | Buffalo
Dallas Gant | LB | Toledo

Jim Thorpe Award Watch List
Marcus Fuqua | S | Buffalo
Quinyon Mitchell | CB | Toledo

Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List
Samson Evans | RB | Eastern Michigan  
Kurtis Rourke | QB | Ohio

Bednarik Award Watch List
Shaun Dolac | LB | Buffalo
Quinyon Mitchell | CB | Toledo

Manning Award Watch List
Dequan Finn | QB | Toledo
Kurtis Rourke | QB | Ohio
Cole Snyder | QB | Buffalo

Lombardi Award Watch List
Dallas Gant | LB | Toledo