The only Michigan football player ever to win the Rotary Lombardi Award was LaMarr Woodley in 2006.

The Wolverines will have two shots at recapturing the award next season.

Senior linebacker Kenny Demens and junior left tackle Taylor Lewan were named Monday to the watch list for the Lombardi Award, which is presented to the nation's top linebacker or lineman.

Kind of a confusing combination, eh? Here is the criteria for the award, according to its website:

• Be a down lineman, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, setting up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of snap.
• Be a linebacker on defense, setting up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
• May not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a blocker or receiver, or be listed as a back or receiver.
• Shows leadership, courage, desire, respect for authority and discipline.

Demens is entering his third season as a starter, and coming off a solid junior year in which he finished with a team-high 94 tackles. He seemed to benefit from Michigan's move from the 3-3-5 to 4-3 scheme, which adds a lineman in front of him and frees him up to make plays.

Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison's scheme calls on the middle linebacker to be a playmaker, and Demens often was just that last season. He was named honorable mention all-Big Ten by the coaches and media, and received Michigan's Roger Zatkoff award as the team's best linebacker.

Demens also has been durable, appearing in 38 consecutive games. He started 20 of them.

Lewan has been durable as well, starting 22 of a possible 26 games -- including all 13 last year -- since redshirting his first season in Ann Arbor. The 6-foot-8, 302-pounder now is considered one of the game's elite tackles.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., native was named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and honorable mention by the media after last season, and already has drawn some preseason All-American nods for next year, including making CBSsports.com's first team.

Lewan also was named to the watch list for the Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the nation's best guard, center or tackle.

Other Michigan players to land on watch lists include: Quarterback Denard Robinson and tailback Fitz Toussaint (Maxwell Award), Jordan Kovacs (Bronko Nagurski) and Brendan Gibbons (Lou Groza Award).

Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.