College Football: Top 5 favorites to win 2017 Biletnikoff Award

The Biletnikoff Award watch list was recently released and one thing is for sure, there’s a lot of talent at wide receiver position set to take the field in 2017.

Names like Equanimeous St. Brown of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Allen Lazard of the Iowa State Cyclones grace this year’s watch list — 45 players make up this year’s watch list.

The Biletnikoff Award was established in 1994 as an ode to wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff. It is awarded to the top receiver, including running backs, slot backs or tight ends who catch the ball, in college football every season. Only 10 semifinalists are announced on Nov. 13. The top three finalists are announced on Nov. 21.

Heisman finalist Dede Westbrook of the Oklahoma Sooners won the Biletnikoff Award in 2016. The other two finalists in 2016 were Zay Jones of the ECU Pirates and Austin Carr of the Northwestern Wildcats.

Biletnikoff played collegiately from 1962-1964 with the Florida State Seminoles. He was a consensus All-American in 1964 after catching 70 passes for 1,179 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns, both first in the NCAA at the time.

He went on to play for the Oakland Raiders in the AFL. When the AFL merged into the NFL, he continued to play for the Raiders in 1970. He was the NFL’s reception leader in 1971 with 61 catches. In the 1976-77 season, Biletnikoff led the way for the Raiders with 13 catches for 216 receiving yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl XI, where he was also named the Super Bowl MVP.