By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - USF's Ryne Giddins continues to earn high praises this preseason.
Giddins has been named to the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Preseason Watch List two weeks after he landed a spot on the Rotary Lombardi Award Official Watch List. The Ted Hendricks Award is named after college football's first three-time first-team All-American and has been given to elite company that has included Terrell Suggs (Arizona State, 2002), Elvis Dumervil (Louisville, 2006), Chris Long (Virginia, 2008) and Whitney Mercilus (Illinois, 2011). A total of 40 defensive ends made the 2012 Ted Hendricks preseason watch list.
Candidates for the Ted Hendricks Award may represent any class (freshman-senior) from any four-year NCAA accredited school and their primary position must be defensive end. The mid-season watch list will be announced in November and the winner will be revealed Dec. 5.
Giddins, a redshirt junior, attracted a lot of attention last season when he started all 12 games and registered 5.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 44 total tackles. The first-team All-American out of Armwood High School star earned All-Big East second-team honors for his efforts.
