NEW ORLEANS - The Maxwell Football Club 2020 watch list for the 26th annual Chuck Bednarik Award features five standouts from the Sun Belt Conference. App State defensive end Demetrius Taylor and cornerback Shaun Jolly, Coastal Carolina defensive end Tarron Jackson, Louisiana-Monroe cornerback Corey Straughter, and Troy linebacker Carlton Martial all earned spots on the list.
 
The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995 and is named in honor of Chuck Bednarik an all-time great at the University of Pennsylvania and with the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame (Class of 1969) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Class of 1967.)
  
App State
Demetrius Taylor, Defensive End, Senior
 
Taylor has been named a preseason All-Sun Belt choice by Street and Smith and Lindy’s and Athlon.
 
Taylor had 44 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, eight QB hurries, four pass breakups, three forced fumbles, one interception and one fumble return for a touchdown last season. He earned several national defensive player of the week honors based on his 2019 performance against North Carolina and has 13.5 sacks among his 22.5 tackles for loss in 39 career games.
 
App State
Shaun Jolly, Cornerback, Junior
 
Jolly was named a preseason All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation (first team), Street and Smith (second team) and Sporting News (second team).
 
Last season, as a sophomore and first-year starter, Jolly was named a second-team All-American by PFF College, which assigned him an overall performance grade of 91.7 that tied for first place nationally among 496 qualifying FBS cornerbacks. He intercepted five passes in 2019, tied for the FBS lead with two pick-six touchdowns and added eight PBUs, 45 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss.
 
Coastal Carolina
Tarron Jackson, Defensive End, Redshirt Senior
 
Named to both the 2020 Athlon Sports and Lindy’s preseason All-Sun Belt first teams and the 2020 College Football America Yearbook (CFA) Group of 5 Preseason Starting Lineup this preseason, Jackson returns for his redshirt senior year after a stellar redshirt junior season in 2019.
 
A two-time All-Sun Belt selection, earning first-team honors in 2019 after third-team recognition in 2018, Jackson led the Sun Belt and set a new Coastal single-season record with 10.0 sacks last season. His 72 yards lost from his 10.0 sacks was also a CCU single-season record. He also led the team and ranked fifth in the Sun Belt with 13.0 tackles-for-loss, of which 9.5 came in conference play, and was second on the team with a total of 60 tackles on the season. He added a school-record 13 quarterback hurries, forced two fumbles, and tallied two pass breakups from his defensive end position.
 
Named a 2019 team captain, Jackson recorded five tackles or more in six of the Chants' 12 games on the season, including a career-high 10 stops in the home contest versus Georgia State on Oct. 12, 2019. Jackson capped off the season by tying the CCU single-game record of 3.0 sacks in the regular-season finale win over Texas State on Nov. 30, 2019.
 
Louisiana-Monroe
Corey Straughter, Cornerback, Junior
 
Named All-American by USA TODAY (second team) and Pro Football Focus (third team), Straughter allowed the nation's lowest passer rating (13.5), lowest completion percentage (28.6) and fewest combined receptions for first downs and touchdowns (7). His 89.9 coverage grade ranked sixth-highest among all NCAA FBS cornerbacks, according to PFF.

Straughter ranked among the NCAA FBS in interceptions (tied for seventh with 5) and passes defended (tied for 13th with 15). A first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, Straughter led the league in both categories (tied Appalachian State's Shaun Jolly and Coastal Carolina's Chandler Kryst for the conference lead in interceptions). He allowed only one touchdown reception in 2019 (came in the season finale at the Ragin' Cajuns) and one explosive pass play (20-plus yards; came on the opening drive of Game 11 vs. Coastal Carolina). Straughter finished last season with 23 tackles (18 solos, 5 assists).
 
Troy
Carlton Martial, Linebacker, Junior
 
A preseason Walter Camp First Team All-American, Martial was named the No. 35 player in all of college football by Pro Football Focus last season and was named to the PFF All-America Second Team. 
 
Marital is coming off a season in which he became just the 12^th player and first underclassman in the last 20 years at the FBS level to finish a season with at least 100 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and three interceptions. He closed the year with 126 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and three picks. He was the only player in the country to rank in the top eight nationally in tackles and tackles for loss. Martial recorded double-digit tackles in seven of Troy's games and added seven or more tackles in four other games. 
 
Marital ended last season as the nation's active leader in forced fumbles per game and ranked seventh among active players in tackles for loss per game.
 
Semifinalists for the Bednarik Award will be named Nov. 3 and the winner will be announced on Dec. 10. The Bednarik Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football.