Save your commenting angst; I thought I was done with watch lists too.
Be that as it may, yet another postseason honor released its preseason watch list, with the Manning Award the latest to offer up its group of players to watch. This year, the watch list for the Manning Award, named in honor of Archie, Peyton and Eli and given annually to the nation’s top quarterback, includes a total of 32 players.
“This is always a great time of year with college football ramping up once again,” Archie Manning said in a statement. “We have a very strong group of 32 quarterbacks on our Watch List this year and we’ve seen them all in action, but every year there are new guys who jump right in and become stars. That’s what makes college football such a wonderful sport – you never know what might happen once the teams get out on the field.”
Headlining the initial group of 32 is Jameis Winston, who took home the Manning in 2013 as one of his myriad trophies during a Heisman-winning season. The Florida State quarterback will be looking to become the first repeat winner of the award since its inception in 2004.
Also on the preseason watch list are a pair of finalists for last year’s award: Baylor’s Bryce Petty and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.
Two independents (BYU, Navy) and all 10 conferences are represented, the latter paced by the Pac-12 and its seven quarterbacks. Next up league-wise is the Big Ten with five, followed by the Big 12’s four and three each from the Mountain West and SEC. The AAC, ACC andConference USA all have two players apiece named.
There are 18 seniors and 10 juniors made the initial cut, meaning there are just four sophomores on the first 2014 Manning watch list: Oklahoma’s Trevor Knight, Temple’s P.J. Walker, Texas’ Davis Webb and, of course, Winston.
Below is the complete 2014 Manning Award watch list:
Anthony Boone Duke Sr.
Terrance Broadway UL-L Sr.
Shane Carden East Carolina Sr.
Rakeem Cato Marshall Sr.
Connor Cook Michigan State Jr.
Cody Fajardo Nevada Sr.
Devin Gardner Michigan Sr.
Garrett Grayson Colorado State Sr.
Connor Halliday Washington State Sr.
Taylor Heinicke Old Dominion Sr.
Taysom Hill BYU Jr.
Kevin Hogan Stanford Sr.
Brett Hundley UCLA Jr.
Matt Johnson Bowling Green Jr.
Chuckie Keeton Utah State Sr.
Taylor Kelly Arizona State Sr.
Cody Kessler USC Jr.
Trevor Knight Oklahoma So.
Sean Mannion Oregon State Sr.
Marcus Mariota Oregon Jr.
Nick Marshall Auburn Sr.
Braxton Miller Ohio State Sr.
Bryce Petty Baylor Sr.
Dak Prescott Mississippi State Jr.
Keenan Reynolds Navy Jr.
Jake Rudock Iowa Jr.
Nate Sudfeld Indiana Jr.
P.J. Walker Temple So.
Bo Wallace Ole Miss Sr.
Jake Waters Kansas State Sr.
Davis Webb Texas Tech So.
Jameis Winston Florida State So.