One of the last awards to release its annual preseason watch list has been the Unitas Golden Arm Award… until now, as you may have divined by the headline.
A total of 29 quarterbacks were named to this year’s watch list for the award, which has been handed out every year since 1987. Last year’s winner was Stanford’s Andrew Luck, and other past winners have included Nebraska’s Tommie Frazier (1995), Tennessee’s Peyton Manning (1997) and Texas’ Colt McCoy (2009).
Just two finalists in the running for the 2011 version of the award are on this year’s watch list — Oklahoma’s Landry Jones and Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson. Baylor’s replacement for Robert Griffin III, a finalist for the award in 2011, also made the initial cut, with Nick Florence serving as one of the six QBs from Big 12 schools on the list.
That number tied the Big 12 with the ACC for the most among any conference. The SEC was next with four, followed by the Big Ten and Pac-12 with three apiece.
• Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State
• Matt Barkley, USC
• Tajh Boyd, Clemson
• Alex Carder, Western Michigan
• Derek Carr, Fresno State
• B.J. Daniels, South Florida
• Seth Doege, Texas Tech
• Nick Florence, Baylor
• Mike Glennon, NC State
• Landry Jones, Oklahoma
• Collin Klein, Kansas State
• EJ Manuel, Florida State
• AJ McCarron, Alabama
• Aaron Murray, Georgia
• Ryan Nassib, Syracuse
• Casey Pachall, TCU
• Keith Price, Washington
• Sean Renfree, Duke
• Bryn Renner, North Carolina
• Jordan Rodgers, Vanderbilt
• Denard Robinson, Michigan
• Nathan Scheelhaase, Illinois
• Geno Smith, West Virginia
• Brad Sorensen, So. Utah
• Tyler Tettleton, Ohio
• Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech
• Jeff Tuel, Washington State
• James Vandenberg, Iowa
• Tyler Wilson, Arkansas
(Photo credit: Unitas Golden Arm Award)
What, no Mettsiah! LSU fans demand an explanation!
What!?!? No Stephen Morris?!?!
Hahahahahahahahahaha
Suck it has beens.
Barkley, USC
Jones, Oklahoma
Murray, Georgia
Wilson, Arkansas
If I were to venture a guess, those would be the Top 4, although it should be considered an honor for the others to even be mentioned. It means they’re relevant and have earned the right to be mentioned because of what they’ve accomplished to-date. The only ones I’d take issue with are those, like Florence at Baylor, who haven’t taken a snap yet and are put on a “list” based solely on their school or the person they’re replacing or the system reputation. Update the list at mid-season to include them if they’ve earned it. Besides, it gives your award more publicity to produce a mid-season, revised “watch list”.