Talanoa Hufanga adds to impressive offseason, lands on Thorpe watch list

Adding to an already impressive resume this offseason, USC Trojans safety Talanoa Hufanga was recently named to the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award preseason watch list. The award, presented by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Jim Thorpe Association, is annually presented to the nation’s top defensive back.

The preseason watch list consisted of 49 different athletes from all 10 major college football conferences. The award also states that the list is compiled by the OSHOF based on previous performances and preseason All-America lists.

Six different Pac-12 players were selected as Hufanga is joined by his conference rivals of Paulson Adebo from Stanford, Camryn Bynum of Cal, Thomas Graham and Jevon Holland from Oregon and Elijah Molden from Washington.

The award will be given during the Home Depot College Awards show later this fall and the three finalists as chosen by the panel will be invited to the show.

USC has had two previous winners of the Thorpe Award — Mark Carrier in 1989 and most recently by Adoree’ Jackson in 2016. USC is one of just eight schools to win the award multiple times.

Personally, I believe the award watch list left out several top players and their criterion of including those on preseason All-America lists certainly leaves out players deserving that may not be on those biased AA lists. I would have had several different players on the list, but that also wouldn’t have changed with Hufanga, and he would have been represented, for sure.

Either way, if we have a full college football season, you’ll surely hear more and more of Hufanga’s name as we get rolling.

Fight On!