UM’s Jackson on watch list for IMPACT trophy

CORAL GABLES — The weeks and months ahead of a new college football season are always filled with early polls, rankings and award watch lists, and as might be expected after Miami finished 2017 as one of the nation’s top 15 teams, the Hurricanes are earning recognition.

Defensive end Joe Jackson, a junior expected to be one of the leaders on Miami’s defensive front this season, was one of 42 players this week to earn a spot on the initial Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list. The award, named in honor of former 49ers and USC great Ronnie Lott, honors college football’s top defensive player for both his play on the field and his performance off it.

According to the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, both character and performance are weighted equally in determining the award’s annual winner, with the recipient recognized as the nation’s Defensive Player of the Year while demonstrating the traits of the IMPACT acronym: Integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.

Jackson, who started 12 of Miami’s 13 games last season, led the Hurricanes defensive linemen with 59 tackles in 2017, including 35 solo stops. He added 11.5 tackles for loss and had 6.5 sacks. As a freshman in 2016, he led Miami’s defense with 11.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

A former Gulliver Prep standout, Jackson isn’t the only player with South Florida ties appearing on the early watch list.

Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa, a St. Thomas Aquinas graduate, Notre Dame linebacker Te’von Coney, a Palm Beach Gardens graduate, and Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker, a Miami Northwestern graduate, also earned spots on the watch list.

Bosa, the 2017 Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and an American Football Coaches Association first-team All-American, led the Buckeyes with 16 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Coney, meanwhile, led the Irish with 116 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss and Baker had 44 tackles, three interceptions and broke up nine passes.

Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell was the 2017 Lott IMPACT Trophy winner. This year’s award is scheduled to be presented in December.

JOHN MCCALL/STAFF FILE Miami defensive lineman Joe Jackson had 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks last season as a sophomore.