Award:
| Year | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Brian Bosworth | Oklahoma |
| 1986 | Brian Bosworth | Oklahoma |
| 1987 | Paul McGowan | Florida State |
| 1988 | Derrick Thomas | Alabama |
| 1989 | Percy Snow | Michigan State |
| 1990 | Alfred Williams | Colorado |
| 1991 | Erick Anderson | Michigan |
| 1992 | Marvin Jones | Florida State |
| 1993 | Trev Alberts | Nebraska |
| 1994 | Dana Howard | Illinois |
| 1995 | Kevin Hardy | Illinois |
| 1996 | Matt Russell | Colorado |
| 1997 | Andy Katzenmoyer | Ohio State |
| 1998 | Chris Claiborne | USC |
| 1999 | LaVar Arrington | Penn State |
| 2000 | Dan Morgan | Miami |
| 2001 | Rocky Calmus | Oklahoma |
| 2002 | E.J. Henderson | Maryland |
| 2003 | Teddy Lehman | Oklahoma |
| 2004 | Derrick Johnson | Texas |
| 2005 | Paul Posluszny | Penn State |
| 2006 | Patrick Willis | Ole Miss |
| 2007 | James Laurinaitis | Ohio State |
| 2008 | Aaron Curry | Wake Forest |
| 2009 | Rolando McClain | Alabama |
| 2010 | Von Miller | Texas A&M |
| 2011 | Luke Kuechly | Boston College |
| 2012 | Manti Te'o | Notre Dame |
| 2013 | C.J. Mosley | Alabama |
| 2014 | Eric Kendricks | UCLA |
| 2015 | Jaylon Smith | Notre Dame |
| 2016 | Reuben Foster | Alabama |
| 2017 | Roquan Smith | Georgia |
| 2018 | Devin White | LSU |
| 2019 | Isaiah Simmons | Clemson |
| 2020 | Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | Notre Dame |
| 2021 | Nakobe Dean | Georgia |