2022 Preseason Honors

Tanner McKee (QB) • BIO

Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and will be awarded for the 86th time in 2022 by the Maxwell Football Club. The award is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell who was a former standout at the Swarthmore College and a renowned sports writer and football official. Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced November 1, 2022, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled November 22, 2022. The winners of the 86th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 8, 2022. The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards live from Atlantic City, NJ on March 10, 2023. Jim Plunkett (1970) and Andrew Luck (2011) are Stanford's two Maxwell Award winners. 

Davey O'Brien Award
The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The 46th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 20, 2023, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas. The official Davey O'Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 18, and will contain all active quarterbacks from the Preseason Watch List, all players honored as a weekly Great 8 recipient through the season's first seven weeks and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee. The Midseason Watch List will then be pared down to the 35-player Davey O'Brien QB Class of 2022 on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Fan voting on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) will again play a role in the semifinalist, finalist and winner voting totals when combined with the national selection committee's ballots. Voting will begin on Oct. 25. Sixteen semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later (Monday, Nov. 21). The 2022 Davey O'Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 8, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.

E.J. Smith (RB) • BIO

Doak Walker Award
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced in November. The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives. The recipient of the 2022 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards. The award is named for SMU's three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification. Toby Gerhart (2009) and Bryce Love (2017) are Stanford's two winners of the Doak Walker Award all-time.  

Drake Nugent (C) • BIO

Rimington Trophy
The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football. Since its inception, the award has raised over $5 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only two-time winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman. For more on the Rimington Trophy, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com. This year, the Trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) to narrow down its list to the top 40 centers. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allowed the Trophy committee to create a watchlist based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF. Once the season begins, schools will be able to nominate their centers for late addition based on in-season merit.

Outland Trophy
The Football Writers Association of America has announced the preseason watch list for the 2022 Outland Trophy, recognizing 89 returning standout interior linemen representing all 10 Division I FBS conferences and independents. The 2022 season will close with the award's 77th anniversary and the watch list offers a talented field of players to accompany two returning FWAA All-Americans. The recipient of the 2022 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Thurs., Dec. 8. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 11, 2023.
 

Benjamin Yurosek (TE) • BIO

John Mackey Award
The Friends of John Mackey have released the 2022 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List. Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee.

Levani Damuni (ILB) • BIO

Butkus Award
The Butkus Award® honoring the nation's best linebackers kicked off its 38th annual selection process today by announcing its collegiate preseason watch list. The watch list features 51 linebackers, mirroring the legendary "51" pro jersey associated with the award's namesake, Dick Butkus, who was recognized by NFL Films as the best defensive player in football history. The Butkus Award is focused on recognizing linebackers who consistently play off the ball on their feet in a two-point stance in traditional form. The award semifinalists are expected to be named Oct. 31 with finalists to follow Nov. 21. The winner will be named on or before Dec. 7.

Kyu Blu Kelly (CB) • BIO

Thorpe Award
Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (OSHOF) and Jim Thorpe Association released today the prestigious Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watchlist. This list includes 35 of the nation's best defensive backs, representing 10 conferences and one independent university. The preseason watchlist is selected by a screening committee whose members compile a list of up to 50 players. This list is not final, and players who have outstanding seasons may be added to the Semifinalists and Finalists lists as the season progresses.

Bronko Nagurski Trophy
The Football Writers Association of America released its 2022 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, selecting 85 defensive standouts from 61 schools in all 10 Division I FBS conferences plus independents. The watch list roster includes five returning players from last season's FWAA All-America team including 2021 winner Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama, five of the top 13 tacklers from last season, the top two sack leaders and six of the top 13, and two players in the secondary who each had five interceptions last year. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce finalists for the 2022 trophy on Nov. 16 and the winner will be unveiled Dec. 5 at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C.

Bednarik Award
The Maxwell Football Club announced its watch list for the 28th Chuck Bednarik Award,  presented annually to the outstanding defensive player in college football. The Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1994 and is named in honor of Chuck "Concrete Charlie" Bednarik who was an All American player at the University of Pennsylvania and later a multiple year All Pro linebacker and center for the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame and was the last NFL player to be a full time player on both offense and defense. Semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced November 1, 2022, while the three finalists for the Bednarik Award will be unveiled November 22, 2022. The winner of the Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 8, 2022. The formal presentations of the award will be made at the 86th Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala live from Atlantic City, NJ on March 10, 2023.

 

Ryan Sanborn (P) • BIO

Ray Guy Award
The Augusta Sports Council announced the preseason watch list for the 2022 Ray Guy Award, which honors the nation's top collegiate punter in the FBS. The 48 candidates on the list incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) punters. The 2022 watch list was compiled based on the 2021 Ray Guy Award Semifinalist List, the top ten NCAA Punters from 2021, the 2021 All-Conference teams, the 2021 All-American Teams, the 2022 pre-season All-Conference Teams and eligible punters on the 2021 watchlist. The complete list of candidates will be released on November 2nd. In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the ten semifinalists, who will be announced on November 8th. A national body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sports information directors, media representatives and previous Ray Guy Award winners will then vote for the top three finalists to be announced on November 18th. After the finalists are named, the voting body will cast ballots again to select the nation's top punter. The winner will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN in December 2022.