TOLEDO, Ohio - Toledo defensive backs Maxen Hook and Quinyon Mitchell were each named to the official watch list for the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy today. The award is presented annually to college football's national defensive player of the year. Hook and Mitchell are just two of just seven players from the Mid-American Conference to make the watch list.

Hook, a junior safety, earned first-team All-MAC honors in 2022 and third-team all-conference recognition in 2021. He was third on the team with 81 tackles last year to go with two interceptions and four pass breakups. He was second on the team and 12th in the MAC with 95 tackles in 2021.

Mitchell led the nation with 25 passes defended (five interceptions, 20 breakups) in 2022, and was named second-team All-America by Walter Camp, Phil Steele and Pro Football Focus, and third-team All-America by the Associated Press. A first-team All-MAC selection in 2022, gained national prominence after he collected four interceptions and two pick sixes in a 52-32 victory over Northern Illinois on Oct. 8. He was named to the 2023 Walter Camp Preseason All-America Team, the only player from the Mid-American Conference and one of only three Group of Five conference players on the team.

The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2023 trophy on Nov. 15 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 4 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C. The FWAA has chosen a National Defensive Player of the Year since 1993. In 1995, the FWAA named the award in honor of the legendary two-way player from the University of Minnesota. Nagurski dominated college football, then became a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s. Bronislaw "Bronko" Nagurski is a charter member of both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

The defending MAC Champion Rockets open their season at Illinois on Sept. 2 before debuting at home with "Toledo's Biggest Party" on Saturday, Sept. 9 in a 3:30 p.m. matchup with Texas Southern. To order tickets or for more information, please visit this link or call/text 419.530.GOLD (4653) or stop by the Rocket Ticket Office located in the Sullivan Athletic Complex at Savage Arena during office hours.