Since 1995, the Chuck Bednarik Award has annually gone to the best defensive player in college football. The lineage started with Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald, who won the award in its first two seasons before it was passed onto Michigan’s Heisman Trophy winner Charles Wooden in 1997.
Since then, stars such as La’Varr Arrington, Julius Peppers, Ndamakung Suh and even Aaron Donald have all had their names grace the trophy. From edge rushers to linebackers to defensive backs, every level of the defense has represented the award.
The 2026 season presents one of the more intriguing sets of candidates for the award in recent memory. South Carolina’s Dylan Stewart is looking to make himself the surefire No. 1 pick in the draft with another monster campaign for the Gamecocks, while fellow edge rusher Colin Simmons from Texas will look to do the same.
Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore is looking to double up with both the Bednarik Award and Jim Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back in the nation, and he’s a leading candidate to take home both. That’s not to mention Oklahoma DT David Stone or Georgia DB KJ Bolden, who will each make their own cases for the award.
Counting Down The Top 2026 Chuck Bednarik Award Contenders
Let’s dive into the top five candidates for the annual award.
EDGE Dylan Stewart, South Carolina
Dylan Stewart is still working his way back from a back injury that’s kept him out of South Carolina’s fall camp to this point, but when he’s on the field there’s little to no doubt that he’s the most feared edge rusher in the country alongside Texas’ Colin Simmons. Stewart’s 6-foot-5, 250-pound build makes him look more like a created player than one in real life, and his 55 tackles and 11 sacks through two seasons with the Gamecocks despite being the centerpiece of every opposing gameplan proves that he plays like a created player too. If South Carolina has any sort of success this year, Stewart will be at the center of it and thus at the center of the Bednarik Award conversation.
EDGE Colin Simmons, Texas
Colin Simmons, like Stewart, is very much in contention for the No. 1 overall pick thanks to his dominant 2025 campaign. He ranked in the top five nationally with 12 sacks and forced 3 fumbles, with his most impressive performance being a 3-sack outing against Kentucky last October in which he also forced a fumble. That was an encore to his breakout freshman season, where he tallied 9 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and an interception en route to a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Texas EDGE Collin Simmons has insane traits for a true junior pic.twitter.com/CnxMAgsc0F
— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) April 27, 2026
CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame
Every once in a while, a cornerback will come along and it just becomes immediately apparent that he is more gifted at the position than anyone else. Leonard Moore was touted as a generational prospect essentially at the outset of his collegiate career, and he’s only backed that up with his performance on the field the last two seasons. As a sophomore in 2025, Moore tallied five interceptions, which was especially impressive because of the lack of targets he allowed. Against Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith in the 2025 CFP National Championship Game, Moore allowed just one catch on two targets for seven yards. Now, imagine what he does to guys who aren’t generational talents at wide receiver?
S KJ Bolden, Georgia
Given Georgia’s recent history of producing elite talent on the defensive side of the ball, you might be surprised to hear that the Bulldogs have only brought the Bednarik Trophy back to Athens once during the Kirby Smart era. That was thanks to DT Jordan Davis in 2021, who joined DE David Pollack (2004) as the only other Bulldog to ever win the award at all. KJ Bolden is the star of Georgia’s defense in 2026 and the best safety in America, largely due to the fact that he can thwart a team’s passing and rushing attacks with equal effectiveness. This Bulldog defense should be improved from last year, and Bolden’s versatility will certainly make him a Bednarik candidate if that proves to be the case.
KJ Bolden is an ESPN top 10 defensive player nationally.
Does he win All-SEC and All-American in 2026? #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/3HlZoMWG26
— Top Tier Georgia (@TopTierUGA) July 1, 2026
DT David Stone, Oklahoma
While Oregon DT A’mauri Washington has been the apple of many folks eyes when it comes to the defensive tackle position, I actually like David Stone’s chances to breakout and steal the Bednarik Award given how dominant Oklahoma’s defensive line has a chance to be with him in the middle. Stone posted 43 total tackles last season (16 solo, 27 assisted) and 1.5 sacks, and he was a consistent force for the Sooners defense throughout the season. If Oklahoma’s defense carries them to the College Football Playoff, Stone will have a serious case to take home the trophy.
