PHILADELPHIA – The Maxwell Football Club announced on Monday that South Alabama safety Yam Banks has been named to the 29th Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List presented annually to the outstanding defensive player in college football.

This is the third preseason watch list for Banks as has also been named to both the Bronco Nagurski Award (top defensive player) and the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award (top defensive back) this summer.

Banks – a first-team all-Sun Belt selection a year ago and an All-America honoree by Phil Steele (honorable mention), PFF (second team) CFN (third team) in 2022 – finished with a team-high six interceptions, including one against Western Kentucky at the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. 

The Ridgeland, Miss., native was credited with 50 total tackles, including 35 solo stops, with six tackles for loss and one sack, and finished the year with 11 pass breakups, five quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery.

Banks earned preseason first-team all-league honors last month and has also been selected first-team all-Sun Belt by three different publications this summer.

The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1994 and is named in honor of Chuck "Concrete Charlie" Bednarik who was an All-American player at the University of Pennsylvania and later a multiple year All Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to be a full-time player on both offense and defense.

Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced November 13, 2023, while the three finalists will be unveiled November 28, 2023. The winners of the 29th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 7, 2023. The formal presentations of the Chuck Bednarik Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards in March 2024.

ABOUT THE MAXWELL FOOTBALL CLUB
The Maxwell Football Club was founded in 1935 and is the oldest football organization of its kind in America. The Club recognizes excellence in performance at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of the game. The Maxwell Club is also deeply involved and fully vested in the community through programs to promote academic excellence, community volunteerism, and leadership. High school student-athletes around the country have an opportunity to participate in MFC Showcase events, free of charge, through the generosity of our corporate partners, Montage Mountain Resorts, the Buccini Polin Group, the ETC Foundation and the Run Around Inc. To learn more about our story visit www.maxwellfootballclub.org.

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