Camryn Bynum on the Thorpe Award preseason watch list

You haven’t heard much from him or the talented secondary this offseason, thanks in large part to the coronavirus pandemic, but California Golden Bears cornerback Camryn Bynum made a rightful appearance, landing on the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award preseason watch list this week.

Bynum was selected to the 49-man watch list, presented by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Jim Thorpe Association, for the award given annually to the nation’s top defensive back. The award states that the preseason list is compiled by the OSHOF based on previous performances and preseason All-America lists.

Six different Pac-12 players were selected as Bynum is joined by his conference rivals of Paulson Adebo from Stanford, Talanoa Hufanga from USC, Thomas Graham Jr. and Jevon Holland from Oregon and Elijah Molden from Washington.

The award will be given during the Home Depot College Awards show later this fall and the three finalists as chosen by the panel will be invited to the show.

Bynum’s selection is certainly warranted but there were a few other misses from Power-5 and Group of 5 schools as the criterion of selecting players based off All-American lists absolutely leaves off more than a few players.

Regardless, Bynum could be the Golden Bears first ever winner of the Thorpe Award as Cal is currently without a winner while Pac-12 rivals USC, Arizona and Colorado have each had a player win the award.