2011 College Football Preseason Award Watch Lists Announced

Peruse our 2011 College Football Awards StoryStream for a complete rundown of all preseason watch lists.

We’ll find out on Dec. 8 who will win these awards when ESPN has its college football awards show.

For more on the preseason college football awards watch lists, stay with this StoryStream.

The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985, has been given annually to the top linebacker in college football. The award is named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Duck Butkus, who is regarded by NFL Films as the best defensive player in football history.

This year, 51 college linebackers are on the Watch List, including Arizone State’s Vontaze Burflict, Boston College’s Luke Kuechly, Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw, Nebraska’s Lavonte David and Florida’s Jelani Jenkins.

This year’s list features 43 players, including 13 players who were on the Watch List in 2010. The award has a good chance of returning to the BCS conferences again as seven players from the SEC and six from the Big 10 are on the initial list. Ohio State’s Mike Brewster is an early favorite, but with the state of the Buckeyes, who knows how well they will play?

The Rimington Trophy Presentation takes place in Lincoln, Nebraska on Jan. 14, 2012.

The Rotary Lombardi Award Committee has released the Official Watch List for the 2011 Rotary Lombardi Award. For the 42nd year, the Rotary Lombardi Award goes to the nation’s college lineman, either on offense of defense, of the year.

The 125-player list is bloated with BCS and mid-major talent. North Carolina has five players on the list, Alabama and Boise State both have four while Ohio State, Virginia Tech and West Virginia are just some of the schools to have three.

The watch lists for the 2011 Walter Payton Award and 2011 Jim Thorpe award are out, getting everyone pumped that college football is aaaaaaalmost back. The Payton Award is given annually to the most outstanding player in the NCAA Division One Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA. Steve McNair, Tony Romo and Brian Westbrook are among the former Payton Award winners who went on to have successful careers in the NFL. Jeremy Moses of Stephen F. Austin won the 2010 edition of the award. The Thorpe Award is given annually to the country’s best defensive back.

On the 20-player shortlist for the Payton award, only two schools have more than one player represented. Eastern Washington quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and wide receiver Brandon Kaufman both made the list, while Liberty got both quarterback Mike Brown and wide receiver Chris Summers onto the list.

2011 college football awards watch lists continue to roll out with the season nearly upon us and on Friday it was the Outland Trophy’s turn. The trophy is awarded to the top lineman, either offensive or defensive, in college football as voted on by the Football Writers Association of America. Centers, guards and tackles are eligible for the award. In 2010, Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi garnered top-honors, beating out Florida State’s Rodney Harrison and Colorado’s Nate Soldner.

This 2011 Outland Trophy watch list includes 65 players, 49 of which are offensive lineman and 16 of which are defensive tackles. The Big Ten leads the way with 13 players on the watch list, followed by the SEC, who has 11 players represented. The newly expanded Pac-12 has nine players to watch, while the ACC and Big 12 each have seven players on the list.

The 2011 college football season is nearly upon us, but the season for preseason watch lists is already in full swing. Today is all about the kickers and punters as the Ray Guy and Lou Groza Award watch lists have been released.

The watch list for the 2011 Biletnikoff Award is filled with familiar names, but perhaps none as familiar as Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon. Blackmon won the award last year after grabbing 111 catches for 1,782 yards and 20 touchdowns in 12 games.

Now all he has to do is beat out the other 74 names on the list. And there are some pretty impressive names among the several dozen nominees. Ryan Broyles from Oklahoma is on the list, as are Arizona’s Juron Criner (who might not even play), Michael Floyd of Notre Dame, and South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery

The 2011 college football season is nearly upon us, but the season for preseason watch lists is already in full swing. And the 2011 Mackey Award watch list has singled out 33 of the nation’s top tight ends.

Among the bigger names on the John Mackey Award watch list are Philip Lutzenkirchen of Auburn, Orson Charles of Georgia, Coby Fleener of Stanford, Kevin Koger of Michigan, David Paulson of Oregon and Jake Stoneburner of Ohio State. Past winners of the award have included current NFL stars Dallas Clark, Kellen Winslow, and Heath Miller.

The Maxwell Award and Bednarik Award watch lists for the 2011 NCAA football season have been announced by the Maxwell Football Club and they work as a perfect metaphor for everything fans love and hate about college football.

Both lists are mostly loaded with players from traditional powers and BCS schools and, ultimately, the watch list is completely arbitrary and voted on by people who probably don’t watch every game or even every player.