Maxwell Watch List

The Maxwell Football Club released it's watch list for the Maxwell Award on Tuesday. Awarded to the nation's top player, it's basically the Heisman Trophy without all of the hype. It's been awarded since 1937 so it's two years younger than the Heisman. 80 players are on the watch list for the Maxwell Award and here they are:

2015 Maxwell Award watch list

Kyle Allen, QB, Texas A&M
Tommy Armstrong Jr., QB, Nebraska
J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State
Mike Bercovici, QB, Arizona State
Devontae Booker, RB, Utah
Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh
Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU
Matt Breida, RB, Georgia Southern
Jacoby Brissett, QB, N.C. State
Leonte Carroo, WR, Rutgers
Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
Corey Clement, RB, Wisconsin
Alex Collins, RB, Arkansas
James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh
Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
Pharoh Cooper, WR, South Carolina
Marcus Cox, RB, Appalachian State
Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech
Joshua Dobbs, QB, Tennessee
Josh Doctson, WR, TCU
Brandon Doughty, QB, Western Kentucky
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State
Kenneth Farrow, RB, Houston
D.J. Foster, WR, Arizona State
Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
Jarvion Franklin, RB, Western Michigan
Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon
Jared Goff, QB, California
Everett Golson, QB, Florida State
Aaron Green, RB, TCU
Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
DaeSean Hamilton, WR, Penn State
Russell Hansbrough, RB, Missouri
Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
Rashard Higgins, WR, Colorado State
Taysom Hill, QB, BYU
Jon Hilliman, RB, Boston College
Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford
Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo
Jalen Hurd, RB, Tennessee
Justin Jackson, RB, Northwestern
Jeremy Johnson, QB, Auburn
Devon Johnson, RB, Marshall
Cardale Jones, QB, Ohio State
Aaron Jones, RB, UTEP
Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami
Chuckie Keeton, QB, Utah State
Cody Kessler, QB, USC
Gunner Kiel, QB, Cincinnati
Fredi Knighten, QB, Arkansas State
Shock Linwood, RB, Baylor
Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis
Marlon Mack, RB, South Florida
Maty Mauk, QB, Missouri
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
Elijah McGuire, RB, Louisiana-Lafayette
Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State
Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
Paul Perkins, RB, UCLA
Dak Prescott, QB, Mississippi State
Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State
Brandon Radcliff, RB, Louisville
Keenan Reynolds, QB, Navy
Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
Seth Russell, QB, Baylor
Sterling Shepard, WR, Oklahoma
Anu Solomon, QB, Arizona
Nelson Spruce, WR, Colorado
Nate Sudfeld, QB, Indiana
Justin Thomas, QB, Georgia Tech
Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss
DeAndre Washington, RB, Texas Tech
Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
Jonathan Williams, RB, Arkansas
Duke Williams, WR, Auburn
Marquise Williams, QB, North Carolina
Nick Wilson, RB, Arizona
Storm Woods, RB, Oregon State
Malik Zaire QB, Notre Dame

One of the more curious tidbits found in this list is the presence of three Ohio St. quarterbacks. Cardale Jones, Braxton Miller, and J.T. Barrett. It looks like the Maxwell Club is covering their bases seeing as no one, except for maybe Urban Meyer, knows which quarterback will be under center for the Buckeyes in week one. It's nice to see Cal's Jared Goff on this list but then it would be an error in judgement if he wasn't. He's easily the best Cal quarterback since Aaron Rodgers. No Cal player has won the Maxwell. No Cal player has won the Heisman either. So, it sure would be nice to see it happen but he won't get it if the Bears defense continues giving up about fifty points each game. I was a little surprised to see Stanford's Christian McCaffrey on the list. It's not because he shouldn't be there it's because I didn't think that many people outside of the Pac-12 even knew about him. Hell, I didn't know much about him until he took apart Cal in the Big Game last year. He's the son of former Stanford and Denver Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey so he has excellent football genes. I'm glad that he's getting some national attention. I just hope that he doesn't have another "highlight-reel" game against Cal again. 

My way too early pick for the Maxwell, and Heisman, is Ohio St. running back Ezekiel Elliott.