Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award Watch-List Released

The watch list for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award was released today and it includes a large number of very familiar names. 

Technically, every quarterback is eligible to win at this point, but let’s be honest, just like most things in college football, only a few guys have a real chance of winning.  I actually don’t mind it though when it comes to a lot of these awards because they almost always go to a deserving person. 

When there is only one award given to 100+ candidates there are bound to be people that don’t win that were equally deserving, and I really don’t feel it is a snub because the winner just happened to get the most votes. 

While most everybody has heard of the Heisman Trophy there are numerous other awards that are given out at the end of the season.  Most of the committees that give out awards release a watch list at the beginning of the year to give you an idea of who some of the best players to watch are. 

The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award (The O’Brien) is awarded to the top quarterback in the nation, but it is not awarded based only on a player’s on field abilities.  According to the press release issued today voters are asked to consider quarterback skills, athletic ability, academics, reputation as a team player, character, leadership, and sportsmanship. 

These are all qualities which are worthwhile and should be emulated by younger athletes that are trying to succeed. 

The watch-list includes 33 quarterbacks.  Many of the candidates are well known and the winner will probably come from that core group, but there is always the outside shot that a smaller school QB will shock everyone and take it.  So here is a look at the list of 33 hopefuls:

2009 O’Brien Watch List

Sam Bradford	Oklahoma	JR	Big 12
Jarrett Brown	West Virginia	SR	Big East
Daryll Clark	Penn State	SR	Big Ten
Jimmy Clausen	Notre Dame	JR	IND
Aaron Corp	USC	SO	Pac-10
Robert Griffin	Baylor	SO	Big 12
Matt Grothe	South Florida	SR	Big East
Max Hall	BYU	SR	MWC
Tim Hiller	Western Michigan	SR	MAC
Jordan Jefferson	LSU	SO	SEC
Colin Kaepernick	Nevada	JR	WAC
Case Keenum	Houston	JR	C-USA
Dan LeFevour	Central Michigan	SR	MAC
Jake Locker	Washington	JR	Pac-10
Ryan Mallett	Arkansas	SO	SEC
Jeremiah Masoli	Oregon	JR	Pac-10
Colt McCoy	Texas	SR	Big 12
Kellen Moore	Boise State	SO	WAC
Josh Nesbitt	Georgia Tech	JR	ACC
Tony Pike	Cincinnati	SR	Big East
Taylor Potts	Texas Tech	JR	Big 12
Terrelle Pryor	Ohio State	SO	Big Ten
Todd Reesing	Kansas	SR	Big 12
Kevin Riley	California	JR	Pac-10
Zac Robinson	Oklahoma State	SR	Big 12
Riley Skinner	Wake Forest	SR	ACC
Rusty Smith	Florida Atlantic	SR	Sun Belt
Jevan Snead	Ole Miss	JR	SEC
Tyrod Taylor	Virginia Tech	JR	ACC
Tim Tebow	Florida	SR	SEC
Adam Weber	Minnesota	JR	Big Ten
Juice Williams	Illinois	SR	Big Ten
Russell Wilson	North Carolina State	SO	ACC