Presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player
Winners Year by Year
| 1993 | Rob Waldrop | Arizona |
| 1994 | Warren Sapp | Miami (Fla.) |
| 1995 | Pat Fitzgerald | Northwestern |
| 1996 | Pat Fitzgerald | Northwestern |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson | Michigan |
| 1998 | Champ Bailey | Georgia |
| 1999 | Corey Moore | Virginia Tech |
| 2000 | Dan Morgan | Miami |
| 2001 | Roy Williams | Oklahoma |
| 2002 | Terrell Suggs | Arizona State |
| 2003 | Derrick Strait | Oklahoma |
| 2004 | Derrick Johnson | Texas |
| 2005 | Elvis Dumervil | Louisville |
| 2006 | James Laurinaitis | Ohio State |
| 2007 | Glenn Dorsey | LSU |
| 2008 | Brian Orakpo | Texas |
| 2009 | Ndamukong Suh | Nebraska |
| 2010 | Da’Quan Bowers | Clemson |
| 2011 | Luke Kuechly | Boston College |
| 2012 | Manti Te’o | Notre Dame |
| 2013 | Aaron Donald | Pittsburgh |
The Fifth Down 