A season after Elam declared he wanted to leave school as the best to ever play the position for the Gators, the 20-year-old from South Florida has appeared on multiple watch lists for prestigious awards.
The 2021 Bronko Nagurski, Chuck Bednarik and Jim Thorpe award each have placed Elam on their list of players expected to vie for their hardware. The Nagurski and Bednarik awards are given to the nation’s top defensive player, while the Thorpe Award is set aside for the top defensive back.
Redshirt senior Ventrell Miller, the 2020 team’s leading tackler, has been named to the watch list for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker.