A pair of Ole Miss juniors were named to watch lists for two of college football’s most prestigious honors Tuesday as announced by the Maxwell Football Club.
Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell is among 80 offensive players on the preseason watch list for the 79th annual Maxwell Award, which has been given to America’s College Player of the Year since 1937.
Defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche is among 78 defensive players on the preseason watch list for the 21st annual Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year every season since 1995.
Treadwell enters his third year of college ranked 13th in school history with 120 career receptions. The Crete, Illinois, native was a second team All-SEC selection by Athlon last year despite missing the last four games of the season with a broken fibula and dislocated ankle. He had 100-yard receiving games against Boise State, Memphis and Auburn and caught five touchdowns a year ago. He was SEC Freshman of the Year in 2013 when he hauled in an Ole Miss freshman record 72 catches and caught five TDs.
Other preseason honors for Treadwell this summer include All-America first team (Athlon, Lindy’s) and second team (Sporting News, Phil Steele), as well as All-SEC first team (Athlon, Lindy’s, Phil Steele, CFB Matrix). He has been tabbed by Sporting News as the 14th-best player in the nation and the No. 2 wide receiver in the country by Sporting News and Lindy’s.
Nkemdiche is regarded as one of the nation’s premier defensive players as a 6-foot-4, 296-pound defensive tackle. The Loganville, Georgia, native was a second team All-America pick and first team All-SEC selection last year when he tallied 35 tackles, 4.0 TFLs and two sacks and helped Ole Miss lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 16.0 points per game. In his two-year career, he has 69 tackles, 12.0 TFLs and 4.0 sacks.
Nkemdiche has already received preseason All-America first team (Sporting News, Athlon, CFB Matrix) and second team (Lindy’s, Phil Steele) honors, while he’s been a unanimous choice for preseason All-SEC first team. He also made the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list. He’s listed as the country’s 17th-best player by Sporting News and No. 2 defensive tackle in the nation by Lindy’s.
The Maxwell Award is named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell, whose contributions to the game of football were extensive, including time as a player, a sportswriter and an official. The Bednarik Award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former standout at Penn and with the Philadelphia Eagles who is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of ’69 and the NFL Hall of Fame’s Class of ’67.
Eli Manning is the only Rebel to have won the Maxwell Award. He received the honor in 2003.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced Nov. 2, 2015, while the three finalists for each award will be unveiled Nov. 23, 2015. The winners of the 2015 Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 10, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. The formal presentations of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2016.
The Maxwell Football Club is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast over 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more.
Beginning in 2015, The Home Depot College Football Awards will have a new home at the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta. Airing live on ESPN on Dec. 10, 2015, college football’s brightest stars will be honored for their performance on and off the field.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Sixteen of the association’s 22 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the complete 2015 preseason watch list calendar:
Tues., July 7: Bednarik Award / Maxwell Award
Wed., July 8: Mackey Award / Rimington Trophy
Thurs., July 9: Lou Groza Award / Ray Guy Award
Fri., July 10: Bronko Nagurski Trophy / Outland Trophy
Mon., July 13: Jim Thorpe Award
Tues., July 14: Butkus Award / Rotary Lombardi Award
Wed., July 15: Biletnikoff Award / Wuerffel Trophy
Thurs, July 16: Davey O’Brien Award / Doak Walker Award
Fri., July 17: Walter Camp Award
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Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Information
