NEW YORK — BYU center Bruce Mitchell was named to the Rimington Trophy Watchlist for a second consecutive season. The trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I football.
The Rimington Trophy is named after Dave Rimington, a two-time Consensus All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. Rimington also became the only two-time winner of the John Outland Trophy, presented annually to college football’s top interior lineman.
Mitchell, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound senior from Kamas was recently named Phil Steele Preseason All-America Second Team and Athlon Sports Preseason All-America Third Team. He was also named to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team and received preseason All-Big 12 recognition from Phil Steele, Athlon Sports and Sports Info Solutions.
A co-captain in 2025, Mitchell started all 14 games for BYU as a junior, after replacing three-time Rimington Trophy Watchlist honoree Connor Pay. Mitchell anchored the middle of an offense line that averaged 31.4 points per game in 2025, ranking in the top 25 in 10 offensive statistics, including time of possession (No. 9), rushing first downs (No. 12), fewest sacks allowed (No. 12), rushing touchdowns (No. 13), rushing plays of 10+ yards (No. 18), total plays of 10+ yards (No. 19), first downs (No. 19), total offensive plays (No. 22), points scored (No. 23) and fewest interceptions (No. 23).
At the conclusion of this season, the Rimington Trophy Committee will use three prestigious All-America teams to determine a winner—Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and Football Writers Association of America. The center with the most first-team All-America votes will be awarded the trophy.
The Rimington Trophy committee works closely with Pro Football Focus to determine its official watchlist recognizing the top centers in Division I football. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allows the Trophy committee to create a watchlist based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF.