Biggest Snubs and Surprises from College Football's Preseason Awards Watch Lists
Another sign that college football season is just around the corner—the parade of preseason watch lists—went through its annual summer march over the last couple of weeks.
The early watch-list season is much like a grand tallying of returning talent for the upcoming fall. For awards such as the Bednarik and the Maxwell, which each had 90 names on their initial watch lists, almost every notable player in the country makes the cut. Those in charge want to cover all their bases.
However, that doesn't mean every single deserving player gets added to these lists. It also doesn't mean every single watch-list member is without question. Although these lists are mostly spot-on year in and year out, there is always room for surprises.
Here are several notable snubs and surprises for the 16 recently unveiled National College Football Awards Association watch lists, which cover most positions and several broad player of the year awards for 2016.
The snubs are based on players' individual stats and performances from the 2015 season compared to others on the various watch lists. The surprises are based on a lack of standout numbers from 2015 compared to other candidates.
While being left off an initial watch list doesn't mean a player can't go on to win the award the upcoming season, it gives a good glimpse of whom the voters will be keeping an eye on when things kick off in September. These players will hope their play either does enough to get them added to the lists or surprisingly keep them in the running.
Snub: Florida CB Jalen Tabor (Thorpe)
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The immense size of most preseason watch lists makes it virtually impossible for an elite player to get snubbed. Even though the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation's top defensive back, has one of the smaller lists in college football, there's no excuse for leaving Jalen Tabor off it.
Tabor is considered one of the best defensive backs in college football for 2016 after a fantastic 2015 campaign in which he outperformed elite teammate Vernon Hargreaves III, who was selected 11th overall in this year's NFL draft. According to Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus, Tabor had the 12th-best coverage rating in the country last fall, and opposing quarterbacks had the fifth-worst NFL passer rating against him.
The Florida corner's talent is obvious. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com said Tabor was the No. 1 college football defensive back to watch in 2016. Palazzolo put him as the game's No. 15 overall player. He landed on both defensive player of the year watch lists—the Bednarik and the Nagurski—but not the one for his position. But even with the snub, Tabor has his sights set on the Thorpe.
"Is it the Thorpe Award or bust this year? No doubt," Tabor said, per Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. "If I don't win that award, I don't see myself having a good year."
Snub: Alabama CB Marlon Humphrey (Thorpe)
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Tabor wasn't the only elite SEC defensive back to get left off the Thorpe Award watch list this preseason. Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who started for the national champion as a freshman last season, will be on the outside looking in when it comes to the early award race.
According to Gordon McGuinness of Pro Football Focus, Humphrey ranked eighth nationally last season in coverage rating among all college cornerbacks. His elite size and speed—he was a track star in high school—made Humphrey a tough matchup for any wide receiver-quarterback combination that went up against him in 2015.
Humphrey was second on Alabama with three interceptions last season behind Eddie Jackson, the All-American safety who was the Tide's only Thorpe watch list representative. Humphrey made huge plays for Alabama all over the field, including two forced fumbles and the now-famous onside kick recovery in the national championship game win over Clemson.
The Alabama star cornerback will be an All-American candidate this season for a Tide secondary that is stacked with experienced playmakers. In a few months, fans might be looking back at this snub with complete confusion.
Surprise: Alabama RB Damien Harris (Walker)
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Alabama will enter the 2016 season with a lot of inexperience at running back, but the hype is already through the roof for the Crimson Tide's rushing attack.
Bo Scarbrough is a physically gifted back who draws comparisons to Derrick Henry and has solid preseason Heisman odds according to Bovada (h/t Gridiron Now's Dan Mathews). He wasn't a surprise on the Doak Walker Award watch list.
Damien Harris, on the other hand, raised some eyebrows. Harris has a ton of talent, as he was the nation's No. 1 running back in the class of 2015. He also had 46 carries to Scarbrough's 18 last season. However, Harris is expected to be the second-string running back for Alabama this fall behind Scarbrough, who got his Walker watch list spot because of the incredible hype surrounding him.
Both Tide running backs were fantastic recruits, but one is clearly ahead in perception.
Harris could overtake Scarbrough as Alabama's lead running back this fall. Right now, that doesn't look likely, which makes his appearance on the watch list rather surprising.
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Snub: NC State TE Jaylen Samuels (Mackey/Hornung)
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Jaylen Samuels must be an enigma to watch lists. He plays a hybrid fullback and tight end position for North Carolina State, and he posted impressive numbers both as a rusher and a receiver last season. But the Mackey and the Hornung awards—which honor the top tight ends and most versatile players, respectively—both left Samuels off their early watch lists.
Samuels might not be a traditional tight end, but he was named to the ACC's first team at the position last season. According to CFBStats.com, no player in the country who was listed as a tight end had as many receptions as Samuels, who came down with 65 in 2015. If the ACC recognizes him as a tight end, the rest of the country should when it comes to awards and honors.
The NC State playmaker also showcased his versatility last season by carrying the ball 56 times for 368 yards—a healthy average of 6.57 yards per touch—and nine touchdowns. He even had a couple of chances to return kickoffs. Although Samuels wasn't an everyday return man like most members of the Hornung watch list, there's no questioning his versatility.
Samuels' responsibilities in the NC State offense might not fit perfectly into a standard role for most college football programs. But this versatile tight end's absence from both the Mackey and Hornung watch lists is quite the head-scratcher.
Snub: Florida State WR/KR Kermit Whitfield (Hornung)
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Another versatile ACC weapon who fits more into the Hornung Award's type, Florida State wide receiver and kick returner Kermit Whitfield was a surprising absence from the early watch list season.
Whitfield's kick return numbers haven't returned to the incredible heights they had in his 2013 freshman campaign, when he led the nation with a jaw-dropping average of 36.41 yards per return. But after a weaker sophomore campaign in special teams, Whitfield bounced back with an average of 26.68 yards in 2015, which was good enough for 18th nationally.
What makes Whitfield stand out even more is his receiving. Last season Whitfield broke out as a valuable weapon of Florida State's offense, finishing third on the team with 57 catches for 798 yards and six touchdowns. As a senior, Whitfield will be relied on even more to lead an experienced Florida State offense, as his blinding speed makes him a constant threat to score.
Whitfield has had a strong college career as a kick returner and became the wide receiver option Florida State needed in 2015. Together, his numbers should have been enough for early consideration for the Hornung Award, which honors that kind of diverse achievement.
Surprise: Minnesota QB Mitch Leidner (O'Brien)
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The Davey O'Brien Award watch list featured 30 returning quarterbacks for 2016, and Minnesota veteran Mitch Leidner made the cut this preseason. His appearance is a rather surprising one, considering his numbers over the last two seasons.
Leidner completed 59.5 percent of his attempts last season for 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, averaging a low 6.6 yards per attempt. Both his yards per attempt and QB rating marks ranked outside of the top 85 of qualified quarterbacks in college football. He went 6-7 as a starter last fall, and the Golden Gophers were one of three teams to make it to a bowl game with a losing record in the regular season.
The year before, Leidner had fewer than 1,800 passing yards and just 11 touchdowns to eight interceptions. His biggest asset for preseason watch list consideration is his experience, and he is getting a lot of rather surprising love from NFL draft experts heading into the 2016 campaign.
Thanks to his rather unimpressive numbers as a starter for Minnesota, Leidner's spot on the O'Brien watch list was questionable. The award committee could've been better off switching him for a transfer quarterback who made the Maxwell Award cut, such as Texas A&M's Trevor Knight or Cal's Davis Webb.
Snub: TCU WR KaVontae Turpin (Biletnikoff)
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His overall receiving numbers last season might not have been otherworldly, but TCU wide receiver KaVontae Turpin has the potential to be a major star in 2016. Based on his upside in TCU's offense, he could compete for the Biletnikoff Award this fall.
Turpin didn't find his way onto the list after a season in which he had 45 catches for 649 yards and eight touchdowns. However, Turpin was in an offense that had both Josh Doctson and Kolby Listenbee at wide receiver, which cut into his opportunities in the passing game.
This season, Turpin will be TCU's top returning receiver. Even though his size—5'9" and 153 pounds—keeps him from being a can't-miss vertical threat such as Doctson, he should get the touches needed to be one of the Big 12's best receivers. Whoever wins the starting quarterback job for the Horned Frogs will want to feed him the ball early and often.
Turpin made the cut on the watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is given to the best overall player in college football. Although he doesn't look like a typical go-to wide receiver, he should explode onto the national scene in 2016.
Surprise: BYU QB Taysom Hill (Maxwell)
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Taysom Hill has only played in six games since the end of the 2013 season. He is in the midst of a starting quarterback battle with Tanner Mangum, who is on the O'Brien watch list as one of the nation's top signal-callers. The odds that Hill will have a standout season for the Cougars as a starting quarterback aren't great.
However, Hill was surprisingly on the Maxwell Award watch list—a massive player of the year candidates list that Mangum didn't make the cut for this preseason. While the Maxwell Award usually favors upperclassmen, Hill isn't a clear-cut star heading into the 2016 season. He was limited in spring practices for BYU, and he could easily spend his senior campaign in Provo backing up Mangum.
"Mangum has the upper hand on Hill after being able to participate fully in spring ball while Hill continued to recover from a Lisfranc injury," Brandon Judd of the Deseret News wrote. "With the learning curve a new coaching staff brings, that experience is valuable."
Putting Hill on the Maxwell watch list might have been a sort of "career achievement award," considering all the obstacles he's faced since his standout 2013 season. Even so, it's still a surprising mention on what was a huge list of returning offensive talent.
Snub: Notre Dame P Tyler Newsome (Guy)
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The Ray Guy Award, given annually to the best punter in college football, placed 28 players on its initial watch list for the 2016 season. Somehow, the nation's No. 15 punter by average last season, Notre Dame's Tyler Newsome, wasn't in that group.
Newsome averaged 44.47 yards per boot last season for the Fighting Irish, which was good enough for the fourth-best season in Notre Dame's storied football history. He became a real weapon for a team that finished the season in the Fiesta Bowl, and he got even better over the offseason. In Notre Dame's annual spring game, Newsome averaged 52.7 yards on seven punts and won the game ball.
"I guess that's a good thing in the spring game; your punter won the MVP of the game," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said, per Scott DeCamp of MLive.com. "That says a lot about a spring game."
That might not reflect well on the overall quality of the spring game, but it showed Newsome is one of the best punters in the entire country. His omission from the Guy watch list this summer is quite puzzling.
Surprise: Oregon TE Pharaoh Brown (Mackey)
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Let's cap this with a pleasant surprise. Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown made the Mackey watch list this month, which is a tremendous off-field victory for the Duck. Nearly two years ago, Brown was close to having part of his right leg amputated, according to Chantel Jennings of ESPN.com.
During the 2014 season for Oregon—when he caught 25 passes for 420 yards and six touchdowns—Brown suffered a major leg injury in which he tore two ligaments and damaged an artery near his shin. Brown avoided having a partial amputation and went through a long rehab process that caused him to miss all of the 2015 season.
Brown returned to action for Oregon earlier this year and had three catches for 43 yards in the Ducks' annual spring game. As Jennings writes, Brown's spring game performance showed "that the return is more than just a feel-good story—it's for real." The 6'6" target should be a valuable weapon for the Oregon passing attack in 2016.
Although he's coming off a major injury that almost ended his career, Brown still snagged a spot on the Mackey watch list. It's one of the best bits of news to come out of this offseason, and he'll have a great chance to prove he belongs on the award's radar throughout the fall.
Stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings are courtesy of 247Sports.
Justin Ferguson is a national college football analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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