ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Teton Saltes has been picking up honors at a fairly rapid rate, and now he can add a big one. Saltes is one of 85 interior linemen from around the nation, and one of just 32 offensive tackles, named to the Outland Trophy Watch List.
The recipient of the 75th Outland Trophy will be announced in early December. The official presentation to the winner will be made in Omaha, Neb., at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, scheduled for Jan. 13, 2021.
Watch list candidates may be added or removed during the season. The distribution of watch list candidates is spread well among the conferences – behind the 14 from the SEC and 12 from the Big Ten are the Pac-12 with 11 and the Atlantic Coast (9), followed by the Mountain West (7), Big 12 (6), the Independents (6), and the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American and Sun Belt with five each. The list includes 32 offensive tackles, 21 offensive guards, 17 defensive tackles and 15 centers.
Among the Mountain Division, Saltes is one of four so honored. The preseason honor is one of several garnered by the senior from Valley High School in Albuquerque. Saltes, who was also a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy for community service last season, was honored over the summer as a Lobo Hero for his work on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, working with his native Oglala Lakota tribe to distribute needed supplies to those on his home reservation, which was hit particularly hard. Saltes also has worked in and is passionate about suicide prevention, about children’s reading, and he has served with the Save The Children Action Network as an advocate for children, speaking in Washington in 2019. Saltes is expected to be on the initial watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy again in 2020, and he was UNM’s nominee for the All State AFCA Good Works Team, which hasn’t been announced.
With all of that, he has managed to start 24 straight games at right tackle, and he allowed the fewest pressures among MW offensive lineman with 350 passing blocking attempts last season.
Earlier in July, Saltes was one of was named to the College Football America Yearbook Group of 5 Starting Lineup in what amounts to being named to a preseason All-America squad. Saltes was one of two Mountain West players on offense, and one of six overall. New Mexico opens its 2020 schedule at home at Dreamstyle Stadium against Idaho State in the first game of the Danny Gonzales era.
The Valley High School graduate will be a senior for the 2020 season. He graduated from the same high school as new coach Gonzales.