By Packy Moore

CINCINNATI – Redshirt senior offensive lineman Gavin Gerhardt was named to the Rimington Trophy preseason watch list during the summer.

The Rimington Trophy is annually presented to the most outstanding center in the nation.

Gerhardt was an all-conference performer last year and one of four team captains. He finished the year as the third-highest rated center in the Big 12 according to Pro Football Focus (73.4) and his run block grade of 79.7 was the best among Big 12 centers and sixth-best in the nation.

The Trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) this season to narrow down its list to the top 40 centers. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allowed the Trophy committee to create a watchlist based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF.

// ABOUT THE RIMINGTON TROPHY
Dave Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy’s only two-time winner as the nation’s finest college interior lineman.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS