As the college football watch lists began to be unveiled on Monday, a couple of Pitt Panthers received some preseason honors.
Sophomores Tyler Boyd and James Connor, who both made strong impressions during their freshman campaigns, were named to both the Maxwell Award and Paul Hornung Award watch lists.
The Maxwell Award, one of the more prestigious awards out there, is given to the college football player of the year each season.
Here’s the entire watch list for the Maxwell Award:
RB Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
WR Nelson Agholor, USC
RB Jay Ajayi Boise, State
RB Javorius Allen, USC
WR Dres Anderson, Utah
QB Anthony Boone, Duke
WR Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh
QB Jacoby Brissett, N.C. State
RB Malcolm Brown, Texas
QB Shane Carden, East Carolina
QB Rakeem Cato, Marshall
WR Sammie Coates Auburn
QB Jacob Coker, Alabama
WR Stacy Coley, Miami
RB Alex Collins, Arkansas
RB James Conner, Pittsburgh
QB Connor Cook, Michigan State
WR Amari Cooper, Alabama
WR Jamison Crowder, Duke
RB Mike Davis, South Carolina
WR DeVante Davis, UNLV
WR Stefon Diggs, Maryland
QB Jeff Driskel, Florida
QB Cody Fajardo, Nevada
RB D.J. Foster, Arizona State
WR Devin Funchess, Michigan
QB Devin Gardner, Michigan
QB Jared Goff, California
QB Everett Golson, Notre Dame
WR Antwan Goodley, Baylor
RB Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
RB Johnathan Gray, Texas
WR Deontay Greenberry, Houston
WR Rashad Greene, Florida State
RB Todd Gurley, Georgia
QB Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
WR Justin Hardy, East Carolina
QB Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion
RB Derrick Henry, Alabama
WR Austin Hill, Arizona
QB Taysom Hill, BYU
QB Kevin Hogan, Stanford
QB Brett Hundley, UCLA
QB Matt Johnson, Bowling Green
RB Duke Johnson, Miami
QB Chuckie Keeton, Utah State
QB Taylor Kelly, Arizona State
QB Cody Kessler, USC
QB Trevor Knight, Oklahoma
RB Jeremy Langford, Michigan State
RB Shock Linwood, Baylor
WR Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
QB Sean Mannion, Oregon State
RB Raymond Maples, Army
QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
RB Venric Mark, Northwestern
RB Byron Marshall, Oregon
QB Nick Marshall, Auburn
QB Braxton Miller, Ohio State
WR Ty Montgomery, Stanford
QB John O’Korn, Houston
WR DeVante Parker, Louisville
QB Bryce Petty, Baylor
QB Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
QB Keenan Reynolds, Navy
WR Jaelen Strong, Arizona State
RB Thomas Tyner, Oregon
QB P.J. Walker, Temple
QB Bo Wallace, Ole Miss
QB Jake Waters, Kansas State
QB Davis Webb, Texas Tech
RB Jonathan Williams, Arkansas
RB Karlos Williams, Florida State
RB Jamaal Williams, BYU
QB Jameis Winston Florida State
RB T.J. Yeldon, Alabama
The Paul Hornung Award is given to the most versatile player in the nation.
The complete watch list is as follows:
Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
Nelson Agholor, Southern California
Kenny Bell, Nebraska
V’Angelo Bentley, Illinois
Victor Bolden, Oregon State
Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh
Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State
B.J. Catalon, TCU
Rashon Ceaser, Louisiana Monroe
Stacy Coley, Miami (FL)
James Conner, Pittsburgh
Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina
Jamison Crowder, Duke
Stefon Diggs, Maryland
Chris Dunkley, South Florida
DeVon Edwards, Duke
D.J. Foster, Arizona State
Charles Gaines, Louisville
Rannell Hall, Central Florida
Scott Harding, Hawaii
Justin Hardy, East Carolina
Akeem Hunt, Purdue
Myles Jack, UCLA
Christion Jones, Alabama
Jameon Lewis, Mississippi State
Tommylee Lewis, Northern Illinois
Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
T.J. Logan, North Carolina
Venric Mark, Northwestern
Kevonte Martin-Manley, Iowa
J.D. McKissic, Arkansas State
Ty Montgomery, Stanford
Khalfani Muhammad, California
Marcus Murphy, Missouri
Jamarcus Nelson, UAB
Levi Norwood, Baylor
Ryan Switzer, North Carolina
Shaq Thompson, Washington
Antonio Vaughan, Old Dominion
Levonte “Kermit” Whitfield, Florida State
Carlos Wiggins, New Mexico
Kenny Williams, Texas Tech
Shane Williams-Rhodes, Boise St.
Myles Willis, Boston College
Dontre Wilson, Ohio State
Aaron Wimberly, Iowa St.
Shane Wynn, Indiana
Boyd, one of the top receiver in the nation as a freshman, finished his first season at Pitt with 85 catches, 1,174 receiving yards, and eight total touchdowns in 2013.
Connor, who will also see time on the defensive side of the ball in 2014, finished last season with 799 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
The college football preseason honors will continue to roll out throughout the week and I would expect to see some more Panthers be included.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
