GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman defensive end
Joshua Stoneking finished runner-up in voting for the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award, given annually by Stats Perform to the top defensive player in the FCS.
The winner of the Buchanan Award, along with the Walter Payton Award, presented to the top offensive player, were announced at this year's FCS Award Ceremony held at the Woolworth Theatre on Saturday evening in Nashville, Tenn., as part of the FCS National Championship Week. Furman head coach
Clay Hendrix and defensive coordinator
Duane Vaughn were among those in attendance, in addition to members of Stoneking's family.
Mercer defensive lineman Andrew Zock won the award after tallying 133 points, including 15 first place tabs among the 35 cast. Stoneking finished second with 119 points, garnering 10 first place votes. Fordham linebacker James Conway was a distant third with 78 points.
Stoneking joins Furman All-America linebacker and Hall of Famer Will Bouton in posting the highest Paladin finishes in Buck Buchanan Award balloting. Bouton placed second in 2001.
On Friday Stoneking was selected by the Division I Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA) as its 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, making him the third Paladin to land national player of the year honors, joining linebacker Jeff Blankenship, who was named 1988 Football News NCAA I-AA National Defensive Player of the Year, and running back Louis Ivory, who collected the 2000 Walter Payton Award.
He is the seventh student-athlete in Furman history to land national player of the year laurels — a list that also includes Frank Selvy, 1954 (men's basketball), Brad Faxon, 1982 (men's golf), Angel Myers Martino, 1986 (women's swimming), and Natalie Srinivasan 2020 (women's golf).
Stoneking was the only SoCon player to earn consensus All-America honors in 2025 — collecting first team scrolls from seven organizations, including Football Central, Associated Press, Stats Perform, AFCA, Phil Steele, Walter Camp Foundation, and FCS ADA.
A 6-foot-4, 264-pound redshirt sophomore, he posted FCS highs in sacks (14.5), tackles for loss (23.0), and tackle yards for loss (132) for the Paladins this fall. In addition to his team leading 79 tackles, he also totaled nine quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and one blocked kick.
Stoneking's 14.5 sacks, which tied for the fourth most in Furman history, accounted for 56 percent of the squad's 26 total sacks, and his 23 tackles for loss represented 33.3 percent of the Paladins' tackles for loss this season.
The Raleigh, N.C., product was named Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week a league best three times this fall and was accorded first team all-conference honors in voting by league head coaches.
