Per GoBearcats:
Cincinnati football stars Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone and Luke Kandra were each named to preseason watch lists on Tuesday.
Corleone was named to the Outland Trophy and Bronko Nagurski Watch Lists. Kandra joined his teammate on the Outland list.
Corleone, a rising redshirt junior nose tackle from Cincinnati, collected All-Big 12 Second Team honors in 2023 after totaling 39 tackles, 6.5 TFLs and three sacks while starting all 12 games to anchor defense. The Colerain High School product capped the fall as the Big 12’s third-rated defensive lineman (83.6), according to Pro Football Focus. Corleone also made the Preseason All-Big 12 Team for a second straight year. He collected consensus Freshman All-America and Associated Press Third Team All-America honors in 2022 after finishing as the nation’s highest-graded defensive players by PFF. Corleone was announced
Kandra is also a Cincinnati native, having transferred back home to the Bearcats after playing at Louisville for three seasons. The Elder High School product proved to be one of the nation’s top interior offensive linemen in 2023. He ranked as the third-best Power Five guard (81.8) according to PFF, while starting all 12 games and leading UC with 79 knockdowns. He returns as the country’s top-graded P4 right guard in 2024 and will anchor an offensive line that returns all five starters. Cincinnati finished fifth nationally in rushing (217.1 ypg) in 2023 behind Kandra and running back Corey Kiner (1,047 yards), who also returns.
