Senior LB Brandon Bryant has officially been named to the Buck Buchanan Award watchlist for Defensive Player of the Year. Bryant started off the season strong, earning a spot on the preseason All-Patriot League Team, and continued having an impressive season by winning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for 3 weeks straight. 

“I felt as though I was having a great year, but it’s still nice to be seen in this way though,” Bryant said.

Bryant attributes his success to the achievements of the Lafayette defense as a unit.

“The D-line has been playing really well, and this is because of all of the guys around me,” Bryant said. “This award is a defensive award as a whole rather than an individual.”

Being on the watchlist for this award is significant for Bryant, especially as he recovered from a torn ACL midseason last year.

“He had to work really hard to get here from last year,” Garrett said. “Being considered for this award is a great achievement.”

Bryant says the recognition of his abilities are not affecting his play.

“We still have to play every game the same way, so I don’t think it has changed much,” Bryant said. “It’s just nice having this.”

When asked why he believed Bryant was deserving of this award, Garrett felt his play spoke enough.

“He got recognized because of his play,” Garrett said. “He loves football. He plays with great effort. He’s very productive. He has great instincts. He has an uncanny ability to know when to take on or avoid, how to slip by a pass protector [and how to take] the right angles to disrupt wide receivers. He gets recognition because of the way he plays.”

In his last game suiting up for the Leopards, Bryant is not changing his game plan.

“I plan on continuing the things that I do,” Bryant said. “Film study is the big one to really help me nail the opponent, and practice hard.”

The Leopards will be facing Lehigh in their 153rd meeting this Saturday for the last game of the season.