Arizona football: Jared Tevis on Bronko Nagurski preseason watch list

Jared Tevis is one of 18 of the Pac-12's best defensive players named to the 2014 Bronko Nagurski preseason watch list. The Arizona Wildcats' bandit safety joined a list of players that include four Stanford Cardinal defensive standouts and four Washington Huskies defenders.

The rest of the Pac-12 representation for the award come from UCLA, USC and Oregon.

Arizona has been an underrated team on the defensive side of the ball since Rich Rodriguez's arrival. Their numbers often skew negatively considering the number of possessions per game, but they've often been more than adequate in making the right plays at the right times. Save for a poor showing here or there, and they've done better than expected.

Tevis and spur safety Tra'Mayne Bondurant have been given the car keys to the 3-3-5 and performed admirably since Rodriguez came to Tucson. It's only fitting that Tevis, who comes from Canyon del Oro High School in Tucson, is garnering this recognition.

Tevis is the third Arizona player to make a watch list so far in these few weeks that will be strategically used to get the college football season rollin. Center Steven Gurrola was named to the Rimington Award watch list, while receiver Austin Hill is on the preseason list for the Maxwell Award.