Penn State football stars Zane Durant and Vega Ioane made the Lombardi Award watch list, the organization announced on Monday.

The Lombardi Award is given annually to an outstanding lineman who best epitomizes the values of leadership, courage, performance, and discipline on and off the field. Since its founding in 1970, two Nittany Lions have won the award: Bruce Clark in 1978 and Carl Nassib in 2015. The award expanded its criteria to all players from 2017 to 2021, to allow players like Joe Burrow to win the award, but it has since gone back to the original criteria.

Durant is entering his senior season, widely regarded as one of the top two defensive tackles in the country, with only Clemson’s Peter Woods finding himself above the Nittany Lion on some lists. In 2024, the Lake Nona, Florida, native had 42 total tackles, three sacks, and one pass deflected.

Ioane is in a similar spot with a lot of attention on the offensive lineman heading into 2025. The redshirt junior was named a Preseason All-America by The Sporting News and Walter Camp Football Foundation. Last season, Ioane helped Penn State rank ninth in the nation in tackles for loss allowed per game and 23rd in sacks allowed per game.

Durant and Ioane also made the watchlist for the Outland Trophy earlier this offseason, a similar award but without the off-the-field criteria.