Cyclone football players Kelechi Olemele and Jake Knott are attracting preseason attention and have been placed on watch lists for some of the most prestigious personal awards that college football has to offer.

Osemele, a 6-foot-6, 354-pound senior offensive tackle, has been put on the 65-player watch list for the Outland Trophy, which is given to the top interior lineman in college football, for which both offensive and defensive lineman being eligible.

The Houston native was also tabbed as a preseason first-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 player by Phil Steele’s 2011 College Football Preview.

Osemele, who has started 30 consecutive games for the Cyclones, is being projected by many draft experts to be a first-round selection in next year’s 2012 NFL Draft.

The Outland Trophy, which was first awarded in 1946, is named after John H. Outland, who started his collegiate football career at William Penn University in Iowa.

No Cyclone has ever won the Outland Trophy in the 65 years it has been awarded.

Cyclone linebacker Jake Knott has been named to preseason watch lists for both the Bednarik Award and the Nagurski Award.

Knott will enter his junior season as a team co-captain and preseason All-Big 12 linebacker.

The former Waukee standout was second in the Big 12 in tackles per game last year at 10.8, while also hauling in four interceptions and forcing four fumbles on the season.

The Chuck Bednarik Award is given to the defensive player of the year, as voted on by NCAA head football coaches, members of the Maxwell Football Club and various sports writers from across the country.

The last two Bednarik Awards have been given to Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh (in 2009) and LSU’s Patrick Peterson (in 2010).

Presented annually since 1993, the Bronko Nagurski Award is also given to the top defensive player in college football and is selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Former Clemson defensive lineman Da’Quan Bowers is the Nagurski Award’s current holder.