2016 Maxwell Award Watch List: Watson, Fournette, McCaffrey headline list
A star-studded Maxwell Award Watch list was released on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Maxwell Award Watch List was released, signifying that college football is getting that much closer.
The Maxwell award is presented to the best college player in the nation, with every player on the list being an offensive player.
Some of the notable names on the list include Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire.
Alabama running back Derrick Henry won the award last year after putting together a tremendous season. He carried the rock 395 times for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns en route to winning the Heisman Trophy.
The list, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
2016 MAXWELL AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Tommy Armstrong, Jr., QB, Nebraska
Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State
C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
Mike Boone, RB, Cincinnati
Joel Bouagnon, RB, Northern Illinois
Matt Breida, RB, Georgia Southern
Jake Browning, QB, Washington
James Butler, RB, Nevada
Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
KD Cannon, WR, Baylor
Jehu Chesson, WR, Michigan
Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
Corey Clement, RB, Wisconsin
Simmie Cobbs, WR, Indiana
James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh
Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
Marcus Cox, RB, Appalachian State
Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan
Matt Dayes, RB, N.C. State
Joshua Dobbs, QB, Tennessee
Luke Falk, QB, Washington State
Isaiah Ford, WR, Virginia Tech
Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon
Wayne Gallman, RB, Clemson
Myles Gaskin, RB, Washington
Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State
Deante’ Gray, WR, TCU
Taysom Hill, QB, BYU
Brian Hill, RB, Wyoming
Elijah Hood, RB, North Carolina
O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
Skyler Howard, QB, West Virginia
Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo
Jalen Hurd, RB, Tennessee
Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
Justin Jackson, RB, Northwestern
Richie James, WR, Middle Tennessee
Ronald Jones II, RB, USC
Aaron Jones, RB, UTEP
Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami
Chad Kelly, QB, Ole Miss
Gunner Kiel, QB, Cincinnati
Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M
DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame
Trevor Knight, QB, Texas A&M
Mitch Leidner, QB, Minnesota
Shock Linwood, RB, Baylor
Wes Lunt, QB, Illinois
Marlon Mack, RB, South Florida
Patrick Mahomes II, QB, Texas Tech
Gabe Marks, WR, Washington State
Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
Elijah McGuire, RB, Louisiana-Lafayette
Travon McMillian, RB, Virginia Tech
Jeremy McNichols, RB, Boise State
Taquan Mizzell, RB, Virginia
Nick Mullens, QB, Southern Miss
Jacobi Owens, RB, Air Force
Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State
Demario Richard, RB, Arizona State
Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama
Larry Rose III, RB, New Mexico State
Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
Cooper Rush, QB, Central Michigan
Seth Russell, QB, Baylor
Brett Rypien, QB, Boise State
Thomas Sirk, QB, Duke
Ito Smith, RB, Southern Miss
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, USC
Anu Solomon, QB, Arizona
Brent Stockstill, QB, Middle Tennessee State
Taywan Taylor, WR, Western Kentucky
Justin Thomas, QB, Georgia Tech
Jahad Thomas, RB, Temple
KaVontae Turpin, WR, TCU
P.J. Walker, QB, Temple
Greg Ward, Jr., QB, Houston
Mike Warren, RB, Iowa State
James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State
Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
Davis Webb, QB, Cal
Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
Joseph Yearby, RB, Miami
Marquis Young, RB, Massachusetts
Malik Zaire, QB, Notre Dame
My prediction for the award winner is Deshaun Watson. He showed last year what kind of dynamic player he could be, throwing for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,105 yards and 12 touchdowns. With much of the Clemson cast returning in 2016, I expect him to put up numbers similar to last year, cementing himself among the college football greats.