Maxwell Award Watch List 2015: Full List and Bleacher Report Favorites

Welcome to watch-list season, college football fans.

The offseason is slowly reaching its end, with conference media days coming up and the start of fall camp just weeks away. Preseason predictions are nearing their peak, and reporters as well as fans are giving out their selections for the best teams and players in the country.

On Tuesday, the National College Football Awards Association released the first of its 16 preseason watch lists, including one of the biggest awards, the Maxwell Award, which is given to college football's "player of the year." 

Here are the names that make up this year's massive list of preseason Maxwell candidates:

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

While the Maxwell and Heisman basically serve the same purpose, they usually have different winners. 

Before we get to Bleacher Report's favorites for the 2015 Maxwell, here are four main trends for the award from the last 15 seasons:

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Oh So Close: Since Ricky Williams' and Ron Dayne's back-to-back Maxwell-Heisman wins in 1998 and 1999, only three players have won both awards in the same year. But each of the last 15 Maxwell winners finished at least in the top three of Heisman voting in his award-winning season.

Older Guys: While five of the last eight Heisman winners were freshmen or sophomores, the Maxwell has only given out the award to one underclassman in the last 15 years—Tim Tebow in 2007. The Maxwell leans toward older players, especially seniors—as evidenced by AJ McCarron and Manti Te'o's wins over Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel, respectively.

Quarterback Club: Like the Heisman, the award has mostly gone to quarterbacks, with a couple of exceptions. The Maxwell has had two non-quarterbacks win the award since 2000—Te'o and Larry Johnson.

Just Win, Baby: The first part of the 2000s featured a handful of winners who were on three- or four-loss teams, such as Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Brady Quinn. However, each of the last seven Maxwell winners played on a team with a 10-2 record or better. 

With these criteria in mind, here are the preseason picks to take home the Maxwell at the end of the year.

The Favorites 

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

TCU QB Trevone Boykin: Boykin is the early favorite to win the Heisman and currently sits at 6-1 odds to pick up the stiff-arming trophy, according to Odds Shark. He will play for a major national championship contender in the second season of a high-powered offense that transformed him from underwhelming backup to one of the most dangerous weapons in college football. Boykin could run away with the Heisman this year, making him a strong candidate to take home the Maxwell, too.

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

USC QB Cody Kessler: The USC senior might not be able to put up the same eye-popping yardage of a dual-threat quarterback such as Boykin, but he has a great chance of taking home some hardware if the Trojans break into double-digit wins this season. Kessler ranked third nationally last season in QB rating and fourth in touchdowns, and he did it with only five interceptions to his name. Excellent pocket passing on a winning team has been the recipe for success for several recent Maxwell winners, including McCarron and Andrew Luck.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott: Prescott has an advantage here as a dual-threat senior who should put up major numbers in a spread offense. While the Bulldogs have to replace most of their starters this year, he still has a star target in the 6'5" De'Runnya Wilson and plenty of experience in Dan Mullen's scheme. If Mississippi State can avoid a big letdown season in a tough SEC West, Prescott could win the Maxwell without being on a surefire title contender.

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Michigan State QB Connor Cook: The Spartans star senior already has the look of a player who could grab the Maxwell. Cook led the Big Ten last season in passing yards and only threw eight interceptions. With some improvement in his efficiency and completion percentage, Cook would be the perfect choice to take home the Maxwell Award.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott: Let's throw in one non-quarterback to the favorites list, shall we? Elliott is a great choice for Maxwell contention because he'll be an upperclassman this fall and already has the second-best Heisman odds of any player in the country, according to Odds Shark. With some more carries in 2015, Elliott could break the 2,000-yard mark and make a serious run at ending the quarterbacks streak with the Heisman and the Maxwell.

The Wild Cards 

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Florida State QB Everett Golson: Imagine the amount of buzz Golson would get if he won the Seminoles' starting job, cut down on his turnovers and led his new team to another College Football Playoff berth.

Alabama RB Derrick Henry: The bruising 6'3", 242-pound Henry has advantages in a potential Maxwell race because of his status as a junior and his place as the No. 1 running back on the defending SEC champions.

Stanford QB Kevin Hogan: This senior signal-caller has all the tools to succeed with an experienced offense in 2015, possibly leading the Cardinal back to contender status in the Pac-12.

Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson: Auburn's new starting quarterback hasn't been a regular starter yet in his career, but his efficient work so far in Gus Malzahn's fast-paced offense makes him a contender.

Ohio State QB Braxton Miller: Any Ohio State quarterback will be a contender, but Miller starring again for the Buckeyes after a major injury and a fierce position battle would make him a can't-miss candidate.

Justin Ferguson is an on-call college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.