Three NC State football players make preseason award watch lists

NC State continues to fly under the radar this offseason without any national hype or attention to speak of, which is fine, of course. We’re just havin’ ourselves a chill, mellow offseason sitting by the beach not worrying about expectations.

The Wolfpack hasn’t had much representation on the various preseason award watch lists that start coming out this time of year—definitely not as many as we’ve had the the last couple seasons—but a few guys have earned recognition.

Defensive tackle Larrell Murchison made the watch list for the Outland Trophy, which goes to the nation’s best interior lineman. (On either side of the ball.) Sophomore kicker Chris Dunn is on the Groza Award watch list after going 23-26 on field goal attempts as a freshman.

And defensive end James Smith-Williams is on the radar for the Wuerffel Trophy, which has only a little bit to do with performance on the field. That award goes to a player who is committed to community service and accomplished in the classroom, in addition to being a good football player. We’re fortunate to have a guy like JSW representing the program.