JONESBORO, Ark. – Arkansas State senior linebacker Qushaun Lee is one 50 players across the nation who have been named to the 2014 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award watch list, announced Friday by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Lee is one of 17 defensive players on this year’s Walter Camp Award watch list, and he joins former quarterback Ryan Aplin (2012) as the only other A-State player to ever find a place on the list. Lee has also been named to the 2014 Lombardi Award Watch List, and he is USA?Today Sports’ defensive “Player to Watch” in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Prattville, Ala., native is listed No. 2 on Lindy’s “Top-10 NFL?Talent” in the Sun Belt, and he is also Lindy’s and Sporting News’ selection for their Preseason Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, Lee has been named the league’s “Hardest Hitter” by Sporting News, ranked as one of the top three defenders in the conference by BleacherReport.com, and listed on NFL.com’s “14 for 14: Biggest hitters in college football.”
Lee is on the 2014 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Trophy Watch List and is preseason first team all-conference pick by USA?Today Sports, Athlon’s, Lindy’s, Sporting News and Phil Steele’s.
A 2013 First Team All-Sun Belt Conference choice and honorable mention All-America pick by Sports Illustrated, Lee completed his junior season with a team-high 134 tackles that were the sixth most in school history and ranked as the 12th most in the nation. He became the first A-State player to record over 100 tackles in back-to-back seasons since linebacker Les Echols in 2002 (105) and 2003 (123).
Lee will enter the 2014 season with 283 career tackles, which are 114 shy of the Sun Belt Conference record 397 held by Boris Lee of Troy.
The Walter Camp Award watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2014 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 125 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, Dec. 11. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on Jan. 17, 2015 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven, Conn.