Liona Lefau named to Polynesian Player of the Year Award watchlist
The Texas LB room is dominated by Anthony Hill Jr, for good reason. He is the leader of this group and one of the best LBs in the country. He is not the only LB for Texas that is getting preseason hype however. Liona Lefau, who totaled 63 tackles and 2 sacks a year ago, has been placed on the Polynesian Player of the Year Watchlist.
It is the second award watchlist he's been placed on, joining the Butkus Award. The award has never been won by a Longhorn, and Lefau would join the likes of Tua Tagovailoa and Marcus Mariota if he were to win.
This is still a relatively new award, only starting in 2014, when Marcus Mariota won, but the list of winners is star studded, including top WR in the NFL Draft, Tetairoa McMillan. It has quickly become a great honor for all players of Polyneisian descent in college football(as well as NFL and highschool). Lefau, I'm sure, would love to join this elite crew and be celebrated, but it is going to take a remarkable year.
Some of the other contenders for the award include Makai Lemon(USC WR), Francis Mauigoa(Miami OT) and rival Jaydn Ott(Oklahoma RB). It is a loaded group of some of the best players in the entire sport, as the recruiting pipeline to Hawaii has increased since Mariota came onto the scene. Although the competition is fierce, Lefau can absolutely be the winner of this one, given the expectations for him this year.
The Polynesian Bowl, Hall of Fame and Player of the Year award have all become massive pieces of the college football world recently, and the legacy of all of those precede them. Lefau would be able to etch his name into an elite group of players and become the first(hopefully of many) Longhorns to be honored with this award.
Lefau heads into this year as the comfortable starter next to Anthony Hill Jr., but there will be more bodies in that room that are likely to rotate in. I believe Lefau can stand out in a big way this year, and if he does he could have an incredible honor waiting for him at the end of the year.
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