Tennessee State defensive end Terrell Allen, UAlbany linebacker Dylan Kelly, and Lafayette linebacker Billy Shaeffer finished as the top three vote-getters for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented by Stats Perform and awarded to the best FCS defensive player.
The winner will be announced at a national awards banquet on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.
Allen finished with 65 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, and five forced fumbles. Kelly had 145 regular-season tackles, including eight TFLs, three sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles. Shaeffer racked up 75 tackles, 20.5 TFLs, 10 sacks, four forced fumbles, seven QB hurries, and five pass breakups.
Thirty finalists were voted on by a panel of voters. Votes were due the weekend of the FCS playoffs first round.
Voting results for players 4-30:
A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points, and a fifth-place vote one point. The final number is the combined point total.
4. Ty French, DE, Gardner-Webb: 2-7-6-1-6-64
5. Anton Juncaj, DE, UAlbany: 1-8-2-4-5-56
6. PJ Jules, S, Southern Illinois: 0-5-4-5-5-47
7. Micah Davey, LB, McNeese: 2-3-3-5-5-46
8. Jacob Dobbs, LB, Holy Cross: 1-5-4-3-1-44
9. Amir Abdullah, LB, Illinois State: 0-6-1-3-2-35
10. Finn Claypool, DE, Drake: 0-3-1-5-2-27
11. Brock Mogensen, LB, South Dakota: 3-1-1-0-1-23
12. Jay Person, DE, Chattanooga: 2-1-0-2-0-18
13.(tie) Braxton Hill, LB, Montana: 0-1-2-2-0-14
13.(tie) Kenny Gallop Jr., S, Howard: 1-1-1-0-2-14
15. Logan Blake, LB, Eastern Kentucky: 0-1-1-2-0-11
16.(tie) Brody Grebe, DE, Montana State: 1-0-1-0-1-9
16.(tie) Daylan Dotson, DE, UT Martin: 0-0-1-2-2-9
16.(tie) Isaiah Major, LB, Florida A&M: 0-0-2-0-3-9
16.(tie) Jalyx Hunt, LB, Houston Christian: 1-1-0-0-0-9
20.(tie) Colton Adams, LB, Alabama State: 0-0-1-2-1-8
20.(tie) Lance Wise Jr., S, Mercer: 0-0-1-1-3-8
22.(tie) Erick Hunter, LB, Morgan State: 0-0-2-0-0-6
22.(tie) Logan Kopp, LB, North Dakota State: 0-0-1-1-1-6
22.(tie) Winston Reid, LB, Weber State: 0-0-1-0-3-6
25.(tie) David Walker, DE, Central Arkansas: 0-0-0-2-1-5
25.(tie) Thor Griffith, DT, Harvard: 0-0-0-2-1-5
27. Eric O’Neill, DE, LIU: 0-0-0-0-3-3
28. Tristan Wheeler, LB, Richmond: 0-0-0-1-0-2
29. Steven Parker, DE, UIW: 0-0-0-0-1-1
30. Nate Lynn, DE, William & Mary: 0-0-0-0-0-0
