Ohio State is projected to have two of college football’s top linebackers and two of the nation’s top defensive backs in 2025.
Safety Caleb Downs and cornerback Davison Igbinosun are among 50 preseason nominees for the Jim Thorpe Award, which honors college football’s top defensive back, while Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese are among 51 linebackers on the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award.
Ohio State is one of eight schools with two defensive backs on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list along with Boise State, Duke, Georgia, Iowa State, Kennesaw State, Ohio and Texas. Downs and Igbinosun make the list as Ohio State’s only two returning starters in the secondary from last season.
Ohio State is one of 13 schools with two linebackers on the Butkus Award watch list along with Alabama, BYU, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pittsburgh and Texas. Reese makes the list as Ohio State’s new starting middle linebacker alongside Styles, the leading returning tackler from last year’s defense with 100 tackles in 2024.
Styles and Downs have each now been named to preseason watch lists in back-to-back days as both of them were named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which honors college football’s top defensive player, on Tuesday. Both of them were also nominated earlier this summer for the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
The full list of Buckeyes who have been named to preseason watch lists so far:
- S Caleb Downs: Thorpe Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lott IMPACT Trophy
- DT Eddrick Houston: Outland Trophy
- CB Davison Igbinosun: Thorpe Award
- LB Arvell Reese: Butkus Award
- WR Jeremiah Smith: Maxwell Award
- LB Sonny Styles: Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lott IMPACT Trophy
- RG Tegra Tshabola: Outland Trophy
