RICHMOND, Va. — Two defensive standouts and a dual threat quarterback are the finalists for the 2024 Bill Dudley Award, while a former winner and two conference MVPs make up the trio of finalists for this year's Willie Lanier Award.
The Dudley and Lanier are presented by the Touchdown Club of Richmond and are awarded to the best collegiate players in Virginia at both the FBS/FCS level (Dudley) and the Division II, III and NAIA level (Lanier).
Finalists for each award are listed in alphabetical order.
Alonza Barnett III
This year's Dudley Finalists start with James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett who made both the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien midseason watch lists.
Barnett threw for just under 2,600 yards with 26 passing touchdowns against just four interceptions.
He was a two-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week and is among the top 12 players nationally in point responsibility and passing touchdowns.
Antwaun Powell-Ryland
Antwaun Powell-Ryland has been the lynch pin to Virginia Tech's defense all season long.
The redshirt-Senior defensive lineman is second in the nation in sacks with 16, 4th in tackles for a loss, and 5th in fumble recoveries.
APR is a national semifinalist for the Bednarik, Lombardi and Walter Camp awards and was runner up for ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Jonas Sanker
University of Virginia safety Jonas Sanker rounds out this year's finalists after being named ACC Defensive Back of the Week 4 times this season, the only player in the conference to win the honor more than once.
Sanker led the ACC in tackles and solo tackles per game and has been invited to both the East-West Shrine game and the Reese's Senior Bowl.
The Lanier Award
Jada Byers
Virginia Union University running back Jada Byers leads off the trio of finalists for the Lanier Award. Byers won the honor in 2022 and rushed for 2061 yards with 27 touchdowns, averaging over 147 yards per game.
He was the CIAA Offensive Player of the Year and MVP of the conference championship game.
Byers helped lead the Panthers to their first ever NCAA win and a spot in the Division II quarterfinals.
Quincy Robinson
Bluefield senior defensive lineman Quincy Robinson was the Appalachian Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year after recording 15 sacks, 21.5 tackles for a loss and forcing 6 fumbles. He led all of NAIA in sacks this year and tied the conference record for most sacks in one game.
Jalen Todd
Washington and Lee senior linebacker Jalen Todd was among the top three in the nation in Division III in tackles (124) and tackles per game (11.3) while racking up the ODAC Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Todd posted a career high 22 tackles in W&L's win over Guilford and he also recorded 3.5 sacks, and two pass breakups.
The winners of each of these honors will be announced on Friday, December 13 on CBS 6 at 7:45 p.m.
They will be presented with the other yearly honors from the TD Club of Richmond.
You can stream the broadcast on WTVR.com.
