A pair of Penn State’s top offensive players were named to the Maxwell Award watch list, while one Nittany Lion appeared on Bednarik Award watch list
College football’s watch list season has technically already been underway, but is hitting midseason form starting today. The Maxwell Football Club kicked off a multi-week extravaganza of watch list announcements by releasing the initial watch lists for the Maxwell Award and the Bednarik Award. These are both awards that have seen a good share of Penn State players receive over the years, and this season’s watch lists have a helping of Nittany Lions among those being named to each watch list for the 2016 season.
Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver Chris Godwin were each named on the first watch list for the Maxwell Award. Each hopes to be the first Penn State player to win the award for top college football player since running back Larry Johnson was named the Maxwell Award winner in the 2002 season. No school has more Maxwell Award winners than Penn State, with seven. Notre Dame also has seven Maxwell Award winners, but the next closest in line are Navy, Ohio State and Texas with four Maxwell Award winners each. Last year’s winner was Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, bringing Alabama’s total to two.
Barkley may appear to have the best chance of the two to win the award just based on history, although history also suggests Barkley has a very small chance to win the award. Since 2000, the award has gone to a quarterback in all but three seasons. One was the year Larry Johnson rushed for 2,000 yards. Last year went to the Heisman Trophy winning Derrick Henry. The third outlier was the year everybody fell in love with linebacker Manti Te’o of Notre Dame (2012). Quarterbacks have dominated this field, and with players like Deshaun Watson at Clemson and J.T. Barrett at Ohio State, a running back winning the award would have to do something truly special this fall. But if Barkley manages to pull that off, that would mean very good things for Penn State. As for Godwin, you have to go back to 1991 to find the last wide receiver to win the Maxwell Award (Desmond Howard, 1991).
The Maxwell Football Club also released its watch list for the Bednarik Award for top defensive player in college football. Penn State linebacker Jason Cabinda was the lone Nittany Lion to appear on the Bednarik Award watch list. No school has won as many Bednarik Awards as Penn State, with four. Paul Posluszny won back-to-back Bednarik Awards in 2005 and 2006, followed by Dan Connor in 2007. LaVar Arrington won the award in 1999. Last year’s winner was Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich, although Penn State’s Carl Nassib was a finalist for the award along with Alabama’s Reggie Ragland. LSU and Northwestern are the only other schools with multiple Bednarik Awards, with two each. Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald won the first two Bednarik Awards as a linebacker for the Wildcats in 1995 and 1996.
As a reminder, a player does not have to appear on the initial watch list in order to qualify for either award. The watch list will be amended during the season, so players can always be added.
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