Walter Camp Award Watch List

The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the names of 40 “players to watch” for its 2016 Player of the Year award, the nation’s fourth-oldest individual college football accolade.
 
Oklahoma senior quarterback Baker Mayfield, a First Team Walter Camp All-American in 2015, along with Clemson junior quarterback Deshaun Watson, a Second Team Walter Camp All-America selection a year ago, headline the 2016 Watch List.  Mayfield accounted for 3,700 passing yards and 36 touchdowns for the Sooners, while Watson passed for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns for the Tigers.
 
Twelve players on the 2016 watch list, including . . . 

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. . . 2015 First Teamers Leonard Fournette (LSU, running back) and Myles Garrett (Texas A&M, defensive end), have previously earned Walter Camp All-America honors.
 
In all, 31 schools and 11 conferences (including independents) are represented on the list with national runner-up Clemson having three players.  There are offensive players (15 quarterbacks, 11 running backs and four receivers) and 10 from the defensive side of the ball (5 linebackers, 5 defensive backs and 1 defensive end).
 
MAC players on the list are:
Corey Davis – Western  Michigan
Shawun Lurry – Northern Illinois
 
Complete list:

J.T. Barrett  Ohio State
C.J. Beathard  Iowa
Nick Chubb  Georgia
Dalvin Cook  Florida State
Corey Davis  Western Michigan
Josh Dobbs  Tennessee
Luke Falk  Washington State
Leonard Fournette  LSU
Royce Freeman  Oregon
Wayne Gallman  Clemson
Myles Garrett  Texas A&M
Eddie Jackson  Alabama
Justin Jackson  Northwestern
Derwin James  Florida State
Malik Jefferson  Texas
Chad Kelly  Ole Miss
Desmond King  Iowa
Christian Kirk  Texas A&M
DeShone Kizer  Notre Dame
Jordan Leggett  Clemson
Jourdan Lewis  Michigan
Shawun Lurry  Northern Illinois
Marlon Mack  USF
Tanner Mangum  BYU
Baker Mayfield  Oklahoma
Christian McCaffrey  Stanford
Raekwon McMillan  Ohio State
Nick Mullens  Southern Miss
Jabrill Peppers  Michigan
Samaje Perine  Oklahoma
Donnel Pumphrey  San Diego State
Larry Rose  New Mexico State
Josh Rosen  UCLA
Seth Russell  Baylor
Brett Rypien  Boise State
JuJu Smith-Schuster  USC
Anu Solomon  Arizona
Anthony Walker  Northwestern
Greg Ward  Houston
Deshaun Watson  Clemson

Appearing on the preseason Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Walter Camp award or be named to the All-America team.
 
The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in mid-November.  The 2016 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 128 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, Dec. 8.  The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s 50th annual national awards banquet on January 14, 2017 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
 
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation, a New Haven-based all-volunteer group, was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.