It's here! It's here! The start of watch list season!
This morning, the National College Football Awards Association rolled out its first two watch lists and -- no surprise -- several Pac-12 players were named to both the Bednarik Award watch list (given to the nation's best defensive player) and the Maxwell Award watch list (the nation's best offensive player).
Of the 76 players on the Maxwell Award watch list, 16 hail from the Pac-12. Arizona State, Oregon and USC lead the way with three players a piece on that list but again -- no surprises here -- the quarterbacks ruled the day for the conference as seven Pac-12 quarterbacks were listed. Five wide receivers got nods and four running backs made the list (including both of the Ducks' top guys).
MAXWELL AWARD WATCH LIST
Arizona WR Austin Hill
Arizona State QB Taylor Kelly
Arizona State WR Jaelen Strong
Arizona State RB D.J. Foster
Cal QB Jared Goff
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota
Oregon RB Byron Marshall
Oregon RB Thomas Tyner
Oregon State QB Sean Mannion
Stanford QB Kevin Hogan
Stanford WR Ty Montgomery
UCLA QB Brett Hundley
USC QB Cody Kessler
USC RB Javorius Allen
USC WR Nelson Agholor
Utah WR Dres Anderson
Of the 76 players on the Bednarik Award watch list, 13 are from the Pac-12. Stanford landed four guys while USC and Washington notched three apiece. Like the offense, almost half of the conference's recognition was in one position group (the linebackers), but there's still a good spread of recognition among the rest of the Pac-12 position groups -- three defensive linemen, six linebackers, two cornerbacks and two safeties.
BEDNARIK AWARD WATCH LIST
Oregon CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu
Stanford CB Alex Carter
Stanford DE Henry Anderson
Stanford LB A.J. Tarpley
Stanford S Jordan Richards
UCLA LB Myles Jack
UCLA LB Eric Kendricks
USC DE Leonard Williams
USC S Su'a Cravens
USC LB Hayes Pullard
Washington DT Danny Shelton
Washington LB Hau'oli Kikaha
Washington LB Shaq Thompson
For a full list of the watch listers, click here. The lists will continue rolling out over the next two weeks so keep your eyes peeled. Don't get too distraught if you don't see your favorite player's name. It's early and there's still plenty of time for change. All of these lists are in pencil (like, a digital pencil) so don't panic yet.
