Maxwell Award 2017 watch list announced
College football award watch lists for 2017 are coming out this week, and one of the first was the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award.
The Heisman Trophy is obviously the marquee individual award in college football, and it’s arguably the best individual award in any sport. The Maxwell Award, given to the best player in the country, is often a precursor for who will win the Heisman each year. So it’s not to be ignored.
The last three Heisman Trophy winners, Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and Marcus Mariota, have also won the Maxwell Award. Going back further, there’s significant overlap between the two awards.
On Monday, the 2017 Maxwell Award watch list was unveiled. Here it is, in alphabetical order.
"RB Josh Adams, Notre DameQB Austin Allen, ArkansasQB Josh Allen, WyomingRB Kalen Ballage, Arizona StateRB Saquon Barkley, Penn StateQB J.T. Barrett, Ohio StateQB Jake Bentley, South CarolinaRB D’Angelo Brewer, TulsaOT Orlando Brown, OklahomaQB Jake Browning, WashingtonQB Shane Buechele, TexasRB Nick Chubb, GeorgiaRB Justin Crawford, West VirginiaRB Damarea Crockett, MissouriQB Sam Darnold, USCQB Eric Dungey, SyracuseQB Jacob Eason, GeorgiaQB Jesse Ertz, Kansas StateQB Luke Falk, Washington StateQB Riley Ferguson, MemphisQB Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi StateDB Minkah Fitzpatrick, AlabamaQB Quinton Flowers, USFQB Deondre Francois, Florida StateRB Royce Freeman, OregonRB Myles Gaskin, WashingtonRB James Gilbert, Ball StateWR Janarion Grant, RutgersQB Will Grier, West VirginiaRB Derrius Guice, LSUAP Quadree Henderson, PittRB Kyle Hicks, TCUQB Jalen Hurts, AlabamaQB Lamar Jackson, LouisvilleRB Justin Jackson, NorthwesternS Derwin James, Florida StateQB Daniel Jones, DukeDE Arden Key, LSUWR Christian Kirk, Texas A&MDE Harold Landry, Boston CollegeRB Ray Lawry, Old DominionRB Phillip Lindsay, ColoradoRB Bryce Love, StanfordQB Tanner Mangum, BYUQB Baker Mayfield, OklahomaOT Mike McGlinchey, Notre DameQB Trace McSorley, Penn StateRB Dedrick Mills, Georgia TechRB Jalin Moore, Appalachian StateRB Ryan Nall, Oregon StateOT Cody O’Connell, Washington StateDT Ed Oliver, HoustonQB Jacob Park, Iowa StateQB Shea Patterson, Ole MissRB Rashaad Penny, San Diego StateRB Kamryn Pettway, AuburnWR Calvin Ridley, AlabamaRB Larry Rose III, New Mexico StateQB Josh Rosen, UCLAQB Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma StateQB Brett Rypien, Boise StateWR Deebo Samuel, South CarolinaAP Jaylen Samuels, N.C. StateRB Bo Scarbrough, AlabamaRB LJ Scoty, Michigan StateQB Brandon Silvers, TroyRB Rodney Smith, MinnesotaRB Ito Smith, Southern MissRB Benny Snell, KentuckyQB Wilton Speight, MichiganQB Jarrett Stidham, AuburnQB Brent Stockstill, Middle TennesseeQB Clayton Thorson, NorthwesternRB Akrum Wadley, IowaRB Mark Walton, MiamiRB Chris Warren III, TexasWR James Washington, Oklahoma StateRB Ralph Webb, VanderbiltRB Mike Weber, Ohio StateQB Mike White, WKUDE Christian Wilkins, ClemsonOT Connor Williams, TexasRB Trayveon William, Texas A&MQB Logan Woodside, ToledoQB Malik Zaire, Florida"
A total of 67 players on this year’s watch list are quarterbacks (34) or running backs (33). That fits with who generally wins, with only Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o in 2012 breaking the run of Maxwell winner from one of those two positions since 1992.
Next: 5 reasons Sam Darnold should stay at USC in 2018
Unless someone comes from totally off the radar, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner will almost surely come from this extensive Maxwell Award watch list. On that note, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Saquon Barkley, Derrius Guice, J.T. Barrett and Josh Allen stand out as some early favorites to make if four years in a row with a winner of both awards.