Rudolph, Washington Among 85 Named to Maxwell Watch List

To the surprise of … nobody … James Washington and Mason Rudolph were placed on a list with 83 other college football players as candidates for the Maxwell Award. This award is presented annually to the college player of the year by the Maxwell Football Club.

OSU is one of just 17 schools in the country represented by multiple players on the list, including four from the Big 12 Conference. The Big 12 players nominated include:

• Shane Buchele (QB, Texas)
• Orlando Brown (OL, Oklahoma)
• Jacob Park (QB, Iowa State)
• Chris Warren III (RB, Texas)
• Connor Williams (OL, Texas)
• Jesse Ertz (QB, Kansas State)
• Justin Crawford (RB, West Virginia)
• Will Grier (QB, West Virginia)
• Kyle Hicks (RB, TCU)
• Baker Mayfield (QB, Oklahoma)
• Mason Rudolph (QB, Oklahoma State)
• James Washington (WR, Oklahoma State)

Past winners of the award align fairly closely with the Heisman. Barry Sanders won a Maxwell in 1988, but no OSU player has won it since then. Here are the last 17 winners.

Watch lists are the Whose Line Is It Anyway of college football to me, BUT how about Kyle Hicks and Justin Crawford being on here and not Justice Hill? Let’s look at their stats from last year.

Granted, Hicks catches a lot of passes, but Hill was just as good if not better on the ground last year. PFB got a vote for the preseason All-Big 12 team, and even though we’re more biased than a minivan full of soccer moms, we went with Hill and Crawford as our first team. To be honest, Hicks didn’t even come up.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Oct. 30, 2017. Three finalists for the award will be unveiled Nov. 20, 2017. The winner of the 2017 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 7, 2017.

No surprises here! Mason Rudolph and James Washington have been named to the watch list for the 2017 Maxwell Award! #okstate #MA2ON pic.twitter.com/qoen4zvUJR

— Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) July 10, 2017