The preseason hype continued to grow for Penn State football’s Micah Parsons Monday when he became one of 90 players named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list.

Each year, the honor is annually awarded to the best defensive player in college football.

Parsons is coming off a breakout season in 2019 in which he totaled 109 tackles, 14 for a loss, five sacks, five pass deflections, and four forced fumbles. He was named the Big Ten’s linebacker of the year and a consensus All-American due to his dominant performances.

Three Nittany Lions have won the award since its creation in 1995. Paul Posluszny won it in both 2005 and 2006, while LaVar Arrington and Dan Connor each won it once. Penn State is the only program to have more than two players take home the award in its history.

Should Parsons receive the Bednarik Award, he’ll follow Ohio State’s Chase Young and become the second straight Big Ten player to win it.

Earlier this summer, Parsons found his way onto the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list. The honor is annually awarded to a college football defenseman who best exemplifies the IMPACT acronym (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity).