Elam named to Bednarik Award watch list

By
Ethan Hughes
-

The Maxwell Football Club named UF junior cornerback Kaiir Elam to the Chuck Bednarik Award preseason watch list on Monday. The Bednarik Award honors the most outstanding defensive player in college football.

Elam enters the 2021 season with some mock drafts having him being selected among the top-10 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. He started all 12 games in 2020 and recorded 39 tackles, two interceptions, 11 pass breakups, one tackle-for-loss and one fumble recovery.

The SEC’s coaches selected him to the All-SEC First Team after the season while the Associated Press named him to the second team. He was also named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation’s top defensive back.

Elam is one of 90 players on the Bednarik Award watch list. The winner will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9.

Ethan Hughes
Ethan Hughes
Ethan was born in Gainesville and has lived in the Starke, Florida, area his entire life. He played basketball for five years and knew he wanted to be a sportswriter when he was in middle school. He’s attended countless Gators athletic events since his early childhood, with baseball being his favorite sport to attend. He’s a proud 2019 graduate of the University of Florida and a 2017 graduate of Santa Fe College. He interned with the University Athletic Association’s communications department for 1 ½ years as a student and also wrote for InsideTheGators.com for two years before joining Gator Country in 2021. He is a long-suffering fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars. You can follow him on Twitter @ethanhughes97.