College football preseason awards watch lists are, at best, little more than a summertime curiosity these days and, at worst, an easy punchline.
For one, there are far too many awards -- only country music likes to give itself as many trophies as this sport. There are often way too many players on these lists -- the Rimington Trophy list, for example, includes 64 players, or basically half the starting centers in the FBS, and 10 from the Big Ten alone. And, of course, eventual winners of these awards sometimes come out of nowhere, making the preseason lists even more meaningless.
We relegated almost all the watch list releases to tweets, but if you're interested, we thought we'd compile all the Big Ten players who were nominated in one place. If nothing else, you can come back to this page in December and perhaps have a good chuckle. Here you go:
Maxwell Award (Player of the Year)
Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska
Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
Stefon Diggs, WR, Maryland
Devin Funchess, WR, Michigan
Devin Gardner, QB, Michigan
Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
Jeremy Langford, RB, Michigan State
Venric Mark, RB, Northwestern
Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State
Walter Camp (Player of the Year)
Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska
Chi Chi Ariguzo, LB, Northwestern
Shilique Calhoun, DE Michigan State
Stefon Diggs,WR, Maryland
Devin Funchess, WR, Michigan
Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State
Bednarik Award (Defensive Player of the Year)
Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State
Frank Clark, DE, Michigan
Carl Davis, DT, Iowa
Kurtis Drummond, S, Michigan State
Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
Jordan Lucas, CB, Penn State
Jake Ryan, LB, Michigan
Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player)
Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State
Frank Clark, DE, Michigan
Blake Countess, DB, Michigan
Carl Davis, DT, Iowa
Kurtis Drummond, S, Michigan State
Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
Jake Ryan, LB, Michigan
Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
Outland Trophy (Interior lineman)
Jack Allen, C, Michigan State
Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
Jack Conklin, T, Michigan State
Carl Davis, DT, Iowa
Rob Havenstein, T, Wisconsin
Kaleb Johnson, G, Rutgers
Brandon Scherff, T, Iowa
Donovan Smith, DT, Penn State
Brandon Vitabile, C, Northwestern
Davey O’Brien Award (Quarterback):
Connor Cook, Michigan State
Devin Gardner, Michigan
Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
Braxton Miller, Ohio State
Joel Stave, Wisconsin
Doak Walker Award (Running back)
Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
Bill Belton, Penn State
David Cobb, Minnesota
Tevin Coleman, Indiana
Josh Ferguson, Illinois
Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
Jeremy Langford, Michigan State
Zach Zwinak, Penn State
Butkus Award (Linebacker)
Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil, Maryland
Curtis Grant, Ohio State
Mike Hull, Penn State
Taiwan Jones, Michigan State
Mason Monheim, Illinois
Jake Ryan, Michigan
Rotary Lombardi Award (Lineman/Linebacker)
Chi Chi Ariguzo, LB, Northwestern
Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
Austin Blythe, C, Iowa
Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State
Carl Davis, DT, Iowa
Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
Ron Havenstein, T, Wisconsin
Kaleb Johnson, G, Rutgers
Jake Ryan, LB, Michigan
Brandon Scherff, T, Iowa
Biletnikoff Award (Wide receiver)
Kenny Bell, Nebraska
Stefon Diggs, Maryland
Devin Funchess, Michigan
Christian Jones, Northwestern
Devin Smith, Ohio State
Shane Wynn, Indiana
Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive back)
Ibraheim Campbell, Northwestern
Blake Countess, Michigan
Kurtis Drummond, Michigan State
Jordan Lucas, Penn State
Trae Waynes, Michigan State
Mackey Award (Tight end)
Kyle Carter, Penn State
Jeff Heuerman, Ohio State
Jesse James, Penn State
Tyler Kroft, Rutgers
Maxx Williams, Minnesota
Rimington Trophy (Center)
Jack Allen, Michigan State
Austin Blythe, Iowa
Betim Bujari, Rutgers
Sal Conaboy, Maryland
Robert Kugler, Purdue
Tommy Olson, Minnesota
Mark Pelini, Nebraska
Collin Rahrig, Indiana
Brandon Vitabile, Northwestern
Dan Voltz, Wisconsin
Lou Groza Award (Kicker)
Brad Craddock, Maryland
Michael Geiger, Michigan State
Ray Guy Award (Punter)
Cameron Johnston, Ohio State
Peter Mortell, Minnesota
Mike Sadler, Michigan State
Finally, watch this list of my preseason awards watch list, uh, awards:
Most nominated: Thanks to his inclusion on multiple defensive award lists as well as one player of the year recognition, Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory leads the way with four nods.
Biggest "snubs:" We use the word "snub" very, very lightly here. Still, it was a mild surprise not to see Venric Mark on the Doak Walker list (he was, after all, nominated for the Maxwell) or for Maryland defensive lineman Andre Monroe to not show up anywhere. Apparently, Monroe's 9.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss last year weren't good enough to get him on the same list as dozens of other less productive players.
Weirdest list: The Butkus Award folks, bless them, either know something we don't or really swung and missed this year. Neither Maryland's Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil nor Ohio State's Curtis Grant were on anybody's radar for a major award, and you could make a very strong argument that neither is even the best linebacker on his own team (the Terps' Matt Robinson and the Buckeyes' Joshua Perry would have made more sense here). And then there's the omission of Rutgers' Steve Longa, who had 123 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. Just plain odd all around.
Just happy to be nominated: Northwestern's Chi Chi Ariguzo and Michigan's Devin Funchess are both outstanding players who should be in strong contention for all-conference and quite possibly All-America honors this season. But they have about as good a chance of winning a national player of the year award (which almost always goes to quarterbacks or running backs, anyway) as I do. Funchess was nominated for both the Maxwell and Walter Camp award, which means he has a great public relations man. Meanwhile, Wisconsin's Joel Stave isn't even guaranteed to start at quarterback this season for the Badgers, yet he found himself on the Davey O'Brien watch list. As usual, it doesn't hurt to cover all the bases when compiling a preseason watch list.