Boise State EDGE Jayden Virgin-Morgan has landed on the Lombardi Award Preseason Watchlist, giving the Broncos one of college football’s 54 names to open the year and the only Pac-12 player on the list, according to the Rotary Club of Houston and the Lombardi Award Committee.
The award goes annually to the nation’s most outstanding lineman or linebacker, with the honor tied to leadership, courage, performance and discipline on and off the field. Virgin-Morgan checks a lot of those boxes on paper, and the production backs it up.
He heads into the 2026 season with 120 career tackles, 16 sacks and 31 tackles for loss. Over the last two seasons, he has been Boise State’s sack and TFL leader, piling up 10 sacks and 15.5 TFLs in 2024 before adding six sacks and 13 TFLs in 2025. Those numbers earned him All-Mountain West recognition in both seasons, including first-team honors in 2024 and second-team honors in 2025.
Virgin-Morgan’s 2024 season stood out on a wider scale, too. His 10 sacks ranked second in the Mountain West and 14th in the FBS, while his 15.5 tackles for loss placed him third in the conference and tied for 17th nationally. He has also forced three fumbles and recovered four during his Boise State career.
The San Diego native has appeared in 45 games and started 34, the most among active Broncos in both categories. His preseason honors keep stacking up as well: Athlon Sports named him Preseason All-America fourth team and Preseason All-Pac-12 first team, while Phil Steele also put him on its Preseason All-Pac-12 list. He was also included on the Pac-12 Preseason Impact List, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List and the Shriners Children’s East-West Bowl 1000.
The 53rd Lombardi Award will be presented at a ceremony in Houston on December 9. Boise State also had several other players recognized on preseason or watch lists: RB Dylan Riley for the Maxwell Award, TE Matt Wagner for the East-West Bowl 1000, OL Roger Carreon for the Outland Trophy and East-West Bowl 1000, OL Daylon Metoyer for the East-West Bowl 1000, and DB Jaden Mickey.
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Madsens recognition also comes with the usual football credentials attached, including multiple academic honors and a career that has already drawn attention beyond Boise. He was not the only Bronco to surface on national award watch lists, either, as several teammates picked up their own preseason nods, giving the program a broader spotlight even before the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]