Clemson, S.C.—Clemson defensive linemen Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence have been named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List for 2018. The Tiger defenders were two of 42 defensive players named to the list. The Lott IMPACT Trophy is named in honor of former Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott.
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented to the outstanding defensive player in college football evaluated in terms of Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. There are 21 linebackers, 11 defensive backs and 10 defensive linemen on the Watch List. Wilkins and Lawrence are two of the 10 linemen.
Wilkins and Lawrence are two of five ACC players on the list. The others are Zack Allen, a defensive lineman from Boston College, Ben Humphries, a linebacker from Duke and Joe Jackson, a defensive lineman from Miami (FL).
Wilkins will be a senior athletically at Clemson this year, but he already has earned his undergraduate degree. He has already been named a first-team All-American twice. He was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award as a sophomore in 2016 and won the Willis Award as the outstanding defensive lineman in college football in 2017 . He has played in 44 games at Clemson and the Tigers have won 40 of them, including three ACC Championships, three College Football Playoff appearances and a national championship.
A native of Springfield, Mass., Wilkins has 193 career tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, 43 quarterback pressures and 14 pass deflections, a record for a Clemson defensive lineman.
Lawrence is a junior from Wake Forest, N.C. who was a second-team All-American by Rivals.com last year and is a two-time All-ACC selection. He was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award last year, and was a unanimous freshman All-American in 2016 when Clemson won the National Championship.
Lawrence has played in 27 games with the Tigers, 23 as a starter, and has 118 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss , including 9.5 sacks and 28 quarterback pressures. Clemson is 24-3 in the games he has played over the last two years.
