KNOXVILLE, Tenn./ATHENS, Ga. (WRCB) -- By now, it's safe to say Tennessee junior Prentiss Waggner and Georgia senior Brandon Boykin are being watched.
The two rival SEC defensive backs were each named Monday to the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given out annually to the nation's top defensive back.
The inclusion on the roster is the fourth such watch list selection for each player.
Waggner, who earned Associated Press second team All-SEC and Scout.com second team All-America honors in 2010, broke the UT season record for interceptions returned for touchdowns, taking an NCAA FBS-leading three to the end zone.
Waggner is also a candidate on the Chuck Bednarik Award, Lott IMPACT Trophy and Bronko Nagurski Award watch lists.
Boykin, a native of Fayetteville, finished 2010 with 44 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss, and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. Boykin is Georgias active leader with six career picks. He is also UGAs leader in career kickoff return yards with 1,813 and is the only player in SEC history to have three 100-yard plays of any kind.
Boykin has already been named to the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and the College Football Performance Awards Defensive Back Award as well as the Kickoff Returner Award.
Waggner and Boykin are two of ten players from the SEC on the Thorpe watch list.
The Thorpe Award, one of the most coveted awards in college football, is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2011. The winner is selected from three finalists and will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards on December 8, 2011 on ESPN.
Information provided by UT and UGA Media Relations.
Tennessee's Prentiss Waggner
Georgia's Brandon Boykin
