ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy junior linebacker Diego Fagot has been named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski award, which is given to the national defensive player of the year by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
 
Fagot is one of six players from the American Athletic Conference on the watch list joining Darrick Forest of Cincinnati, Richie Grant of UCF, Ifeanyi Maijeh of Temple, Aaron Robinson of UCF and James Wiggins of Cincinnati
 
Fagot, who is also on the watch list for the Bednarik Award and was named a preseason Third Team All-American by Phil Steele, is coming off a dominant sophomore campaign that saw him start all 13 contests for a Navy team that finished 11-2, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and beat Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl. The Mids finished the year ranked 20^th in both polls.
 
A big part of Navy's success last year was the defense as the Mids improved in nearly every defensive category, including third down defense (121^st to 20^th), rushing defense (90^th to 10^th), total defense (86^th to 16^th) and scoring defense (103^rd to 34^th).
 
Fagot led the team in tackles in 2019 with 100 (52 solo) and was second on the team in tackles for a loss (12) and sacks (5.5). He forced two fumbles, broke up two passes and had an interception that he returned for a touchdown.  Fagot was named 2019 First-Team All-AAC and was named the Liberty Bowl Defensive Player of the game.