Biletnikoff Award Watch List 2016: Full List and Bleacher Report Favorites
Pass-catchers have taken center stage during college football's “watch list” season with Wednesday's announcement of players up for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the nation's outstanding receiver. As seen at NCAA.com, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation has released a list of 53 prospective winners, though more will join the list over the course of the 2016 season.
It's a veteran group with 31 seniors and 16 juniors, though the six sophomores included at this point feature some of the best young stars in the game.
The list will be pared down to 10 semifinalists in mid-November, with a trio of finalists announced a week later. The winner will be revealed during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN on Dec. 8.
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Here's the full list of players currently under consideration:
| Rodney Adams | South Florida | Senior |
| Chance Allen | Houston | Senior |
| Marcell Ateman | Oklahoma State | Senior |
| Josh Atkinson | Tulsa | Senior |
| Devonte Boyd | UNLV | Junior |
| KD Cannon | Baylor | Junior |
| Jehu Chesson | Michigan | Senior |
| Simmie Cobbs Jr. | Indiana | Junior |
| Corey Davis | Western Michigan | Senior |
| Robert Davis | Georgia State | Senior |
| Gehrig Dieter | Alabama | Senior |
| Malachi Dupre | LSU | Junior |
| Isaiah Ford | Virginia Tech | Junior |
| Shelton Gibson | West Virginia | Junior |
| Chris Godwin | Penn State | Junior |
| Kenny Golladay | Northern Illinois | Senior |
| Penny Hart | Georgia State | Sophomore |
| Carlos Henderson | Louisiana Tech | Redshirt sophomore |
| Hasaan Henderson | Nevada | Senior |
| Mack Hollins | North Carolina | Senior |
| Richie James | Middle Tennessee | Redshirt sophomore |
| Isaiah Jones | East Carolina | Senior |
| Ricky Jones | Indiana | Senior |
| Christian Kirk | Texas A&M | Sophomore |
| Jesse Kroll | Central Michigan | Senior |
| Jerome Lane | Akron | Junior |
| Allen Lazard | Iowa State | Junior |
| KeVonn Mabon | Ball State | Senior |
| Gabe Marks | Washington State | Senior |
| Taquan Mizzell | Virginia | Senior |
| Ronnie Moore | Bowling Green | Senior |
| Drew Morgan | Arkansas | Senior |
| Nicholas Norris | Western Kentucky | Senior |
| Zach Pascal | Old Dominion | Senior |
| Brandon Reilly | Nebraska | Senior |
| Josh Reynolds | Texas A&M | Senior |
| Jerico Richardson | Nevada | Senior |
| Calvin Ridley | Alabama | Sophomore |
| Fred Ross | Mississippi State | Senior |
| Travis Rudolph | Florida State | Junior |
| Artavis Scott | Clemson | Junior |
| Sebastian Smith | Ohio | Senior |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | USC | Junior |
| Thomas Sperbeck | Boise State | Senior |
| Courtland Sutton | SMU | Sophomore |
| Taywan Taylor | Western Kentucky | Senior |
| Trent Traylor | Louisiana Tech | Junior |
| Cody Thompson | Toledo | Junior |
| DJ Thompson | Southern Mississippi | Senior |
| James Washington | Oklahoma State | Junior |
| Jordan Westerkamp | Nebraska | Senior |
| Kermit Whitfield | Florida State | Senior |
| Mike Williams | Clemson | Junior |
Award Trends
The Biletnikoff Award has been handed out since 1994, and though it's open to any pass-eligible player (including running backs and tight ends), wide receivers have exclusively earned it. Here are some notable trends we've seen from the award winners over the years:
Repeat winners: Two wideouts have claimed the Biletnikoff Award twice, but not since Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon won in 2010 and 2011. Before him was Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree, who won it in 2007 and 2008.
Short on seniors: Oregon State's Mike Hass, in 2005, was the last senior to win the award. Since then it's gone to a junior six times, a sophomore three times and once to a redshirt freshman when Crabtree won the first of his two trophies. All told, five seniors have been honored.
Biletnikoff/draft correlation: All 20 winners have gone on to be drafted into the NFL, with 12 of them going in the first round and another in the second round. Many of those first-rounders ended up being the first wide receiver taken, including 2015 winner Corey Coleman and 2014 recipient Amari Cooper.
The Favorites
KD Cannon, Baylor
No school has won the Biletnikoff in consecutive years (other than when the same player won twice in a row), but Baylor has a good shot if Cannon can perform the way Coleman did in 2015. Cannon figures to be the focal point of the Bears' pass-heavy offense and have a drastic increase in production off last season's 50 catches, 868 yards and six touchdowns.
Much will depend on how Cannon comes back from injury. The junior tweeted a picture Tuesday of his surgically repaired right knee, which recently underwent arthroscopic surgery.
Christian Kirk, Texas A&M
Kirk had a tremendous freshman season that saw him lead the Aggies in receiving (80 catches, 1,009 yards, seven touchdowns); he also was their top return man. He scored twice on punt returns and finished 2015 with 1,789 all-purpose yards, tops among freshmen in FBS.
The arrival of Oklahoma graduate transfer Trevor Knight at quarterback should aid Kirk's candidacy since he'll be working with a veteran passer. Last year Kirk thrived despite getting throws from three different quarterbacks.
Calvin Ridley, Alabama
Could an Alabama wideout win the award twice in three years? Compare what Ridley did as a freshman to 2014 winner Amari Cooper's first season of production and it's possible—if not this year, then in 2017.
Ridley led the Crimson Tide with 89 catches for 1,045 yards and seven touchdowns. Cooper's freshman numbers in 2012 saw him catch 58 passes for 999 yards and 11 scores.
Artavis Scott, Clemson
Clemson's receiving corps suffered a major blow in 2015 when Mike Williams went down with a season-ending neck injury early in the first game. But Scott stepped up and filled the void, catching 93 passes and scoring six touchdowns. No other Tigers player had more than 50 receptions.
Scott, who is also set to handle most of Clemson's punt and kickoff returns, needs 72 receptions to become the school's career receiving leader.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC
USC is among the schools to have a past Biletnikoff winner, with Marqise Lee taking the award in 2012 after his monster sophomore season. Smith-Schuster has been building to such a performance through his first two years with the Trojans, including in 2015 when he had 89 catches for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Smith-Schuster had six 100-yard games and 11 contests with at least five receptions, hardly skipping a beat despite having surgery for a broken hand midway through the season.
The Dark Horses
Malachi Dupre, LSU: Put Dupre on almost any other team and his numbers would be through the roof, but at LSU the passing attack has been limited during his career. Last season, as a sophomore, he had 43 catches for 698 yards and six touchdowns.
Isaiah Ford, Virginia Tech: Ford established school single-season records for receptions (75), yards (1,164) and touchdowns (11) in 2015, blowing away the previous marks. That was in a Scot Loeffler offense, and now he gets to play in the system that new head coach Justin Fuente has installed.
Gabe Marks, Washington State: The nation's top passing offense last year had three players with 50 or more catches but only one who topped the century mark. Marks caught 104 passes for 1,192 yards and 15 touchdowns, ranking fourth nationally in receptions and TDs.
Mike Williams, Clemson: A scary neck injury cut short Williams' 2015 season, otherwise he might have been a finalist for the Biletnikoff a year ago. If he can return to the form he showed as a sophomore, when he averaged 18.1 yards per reception, he'll be in the mix for this year's award.
All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports, unless otherwise noted. All statistics provided by CFBStats.com, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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