One of the most prestigious awards in college football has significantly narrowed the field for the 2019 version of the award.
Thursday afternoon, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced a list of 20 “Players to Watch” for its annual Player of the Year Award. Included in that group of semifinalists are three players each from Clemson -- running back Travis Etienne, quarterback Trevor Lawrence and linebacker Isaiah Simmons -- and Ohio State -- running back J.K. Dobbins, quarterback Justin Fields and defensive end Chase Young.
Simmons and Young are two of just four from the defensive side of the ball, the others being from the Big Ten as well in Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Minnesota defensive back Antoine Winfield. That Big Ten trio is part of six from that particular conference, the most of any league. The SEC is next with five, followed by four from the ACC, three from the Big 12 and two from the Pac-12.
As you can tell, no Group of Five made the list.
Aside from Clemson and OSU, the only other schools with more than one player in the group are LSU (quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase) and Oklahoma (quarterback Jalen Hurts, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb).
Positionally, there are six running backs, six quarterbacks, three wide receivers and one tight end (Florida’s Kyle Pitts) in addition to the defensive players already mentioned. Just four seniors made the cut, compared to 10 juniors and six sophomores.
After suffering a season-ending hip injury, last year’s winner, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, is not one of this year’s 20 semifinalists, the full list of which appears below:
Joe Burrow, QB, Senior, LSU
Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Sophomore, LSU
AJ Dillon, RB, Junior, Boston College
JK Dobbins, RB, Junior, Ohio State
Travis Etienne, RB, Junior, Clemson
Justin Fields, QB, Sophomore, Ohio State
Justin Herbert, QB, Senior, Oregon
Chuba Hubbard, RB, Sophomore, Oklahoma State
Tyler Huntley, QB, Senior, Utah
Jalen Hurts, QB, Senior, Oklahoma
CeeDee Lamb, WR, Junior, Oklahoma
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Junior, Clemson
Micah Parsons, LB, Sophomore, Penn State
Kyle Pitts, TE, Sophomore, Florida
Isaiah Simmons, LB, Redshirt Junior, Clemson
Devonta Smith, WR, Junior, Alabama
D’Andre Swift, RB, Junior, Georgia
Jonathan Taylor, RB, Junior, Wisconsin
Antoine Winfield, DB, RS Sophomore, Minnesota
Chase Young, DE, Junior, Ohio State