2016 College Football Awards watch lists tracker

This page will be updated through July 15 as the National College Football Awards Association releases watch lists for a number of awards. The full schedule is listed below.

July 13

Fred Biletnikoff Award (outstanding wide receiver)

In a league where offense comes in buckets, a pair of wide receivers caught the nation's eye on the Fred Biletnikoff Award preseason watch list.

The pair includes two of the most notable wide outs in the league going into 2016 - USC's JuJu Smith-Schuster and Washington State's Gabe Marks.

Wuerffel Trophy (community service)

One of the newest trophies on the college football block goes annually to the player who displays great aptitude in athletic, academic and community service endeavors.

Six Pac-12 players made the preseason watch list for this award, includign ASU's Laiu Moeakiola, California's Jack Austin, Colorado's Sefo Liufau, Oregon State's Ryan Nall, USC's John Plattenburg and Washington's Jeff Lindquist.

Next up: The rest of the award watch lists will be released as follows:

• July 14: Davey O'Brien Award (best quarterback) and Doak Walker Award (best running back)
• July 15: Walter Camp Award (player of the year)

July 12

Dick Butkus Award (outsanding linebacker)

Named for one of the fiercest players to ever take the field, the Butkus Award is given annually to the nation's top linebacker.

In 2016, four deserving Pac-12 players are on the Butkus preseason watch list, including Arizona State's Salamo Fiso, Stanford's Peter Kalambayi, USC's Cameron Smith and Washington's Azeem Victor.

July 11

Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes America boasts in its history, and the award that bears his name goes annually to the best defensive back in college football. 

Jim Thorpe Award (outstanding defensive back)

The Pac-12 placed six players on the Thorpe Aware watch list Monday, including a pair of Washington Huskies who have spent most of the past week appearing on multiple similar lists.

Washington's Sidney Jones and Budda Baker are both on the list, and they're joined by USC's Adoree' Jackson, UCLA's Jaleel Wadood, Colorado's Chidobe Awuzie and Utah's Marcus Williams.

July 8

In a conference known for explosive offense and dazzling stats, we all know that defense rules the day. On Friday, more than a dozen of the Pac-12's top defensive players found their way onto two more preseason award watch lists; for several, they're on both.

The Pac-12 earned 23 combined spots on the Bronko Nagurski and Outland Trophy watch lists, with several players seeing their names on both lists. Leading the way are the Utah Utes, who had five different players across the two watch lists.

Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player of the year)

A lucky 13 Pac-12 players are on the preseason Nagurski watch list, and no team was more feted than the one that calls Sack Lake City home. The Utes have four players on the list, including defensive ends Hunter Dimick and Kylie Fitts, defensive tackle Lowell Lotulelei and defensive back Marcus Williams.

Just behind Utah sits three standouts from Washington: defensive backs Budda Baker and Sidney Jones, as well as linebacker Azeem Victor.

Rounding out the Pac-12 representatives on the list are Colorado's Chidobe Awuzie, ASU's Salamo Fiso, Adoree' Jackson and Cameron Smith of USC and UCLA's Fabian Moreau and Eddie Vanderdoes.

Outland Trophy (outstanding interior lineman)

It's one of the awards that includes nominees from both sides of the ball, and from the Pac-12, 10 interior linemen made the preseason Outland cut. That includes Utah's Lotulelei and UCLA's Vanderdoes, both of whom also were named to the Nagurski watch list.

A trio of Trojans make up a big part of the Pac-12 continent on this list, including Zach Banner, Damien Mama and Chad Wheeler. Also finding themselves on the list: Chris Borrayo of California, Oregon's Tyrell Crosby, Utah's J.J. Dielman, UCLA's Conor McDermott and Arizona State's Tashon Smallwood.

July 7

WIth the game literally coming down to one kick of the ball, all eyes are on your kicker.

When you need to sway field position, your punter becomes the big man on campus.

On Thursday, five Pac-12 kickers and two punters were named to the Lou Groza and Ray Guy award watch lists, respectively, given annually to the nation's best kicker and punter. 

Lou Groza Award (outstanding kicker)

A handful of the league's top placekickers made the preseason Groza watch list, including one who's already won the award. Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez, who won the Groza in 2013 as a freshman, returns to Tempe as the NCAA's active leader in scoring per game.

Utah's Andy Phillips, California's Matt Anderson, Oregon's Aidan Schneider and Washington's Cameron Van Winkle are also on the list.

Ray Guy Award (outstanding punter)

Who could possible take over the Pac-12's punting mantle after the graduation of two-time Guy Award winner Tom Hackett? #puntersarepeopletoo

It could either be ASU's Matt Haack or Oregon State's Nick Porebski, the Pac-12's two representatives on the Ray Guy preseason watch list. 

July 6

WIthout a strong center, your star quarterback can't get anything done. The solid tight end that can both block and be a threat downfield remains one of the most versatile players on the field.

Lucky for us, the Pac-12 boasts examples of both, and a combined seven players were named Wednesday to watch lists for both the John Mackey Award for the nation's top tight end and the Rimington Trophy for America's top center.

John Mackey Award (outstanding tight end)

A quartet of the league's top tight ends are among those named to the Mackey watch list, and it includes one player who's on the verge of making a major comeback.

Oregon's Pharaoh Brown, who has been recovering from a severe knee injury he suffered in 2014, is on the list, along side Washington's Darrell Daniels, ASU's Kody Kohl and Stanford's Dalton Schultz.

Rimington Trophy (outstanding center)

Three centers from the Pac-12 made this list, and the flavor of Washington schools showing up on watch lists carried over into this one. Washington's Coleman Shelton is on the watch list alongside WSU's Riley Sorenson. USC's Toa Lobendahn also made the cut.

July 5

If you're a fan of either Pac-12 teams in the beautiful Evergreen State, you're bound to be pleased with what you've seen from the first two college football award watch lists of 2016.

Tuesday started the annual midsummer release of watch lists for some of the game's most prominent and celebrated awards, and a combined six players from the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars made appearances on watch lists for the Bednarik Award and Maxwell Award.

Overall, 12 Pac-12 players earned preseason recognition on the Maxwell watch list, given to college football's player of the year every season. Another 10 appear on the Bednarik list, which goes annually to America's defensive player of the year.

Maxwell Award (college football player of the year)

A who's who of Pac-12's firepower appears on the Maxwell Award watch list, with a cool dozen Pac-12 players representing 10 schools.

Washington State and Washington both have a pair of stars, with the Huskies' Jake Browning and Myles Gaskin appearing on the list alongside WSU's dynamite QB/WR duo of Luke Falk and Gabe Marks. USC also placed a pair of players on the list in Ronald Jones II and Juju Smith-Schuster.

And of course, no list of oustanding players would be complete with Stanford's returning dynamo Christian McCaffrey.

The other Pac-12 players on the list include Arizona's Anu Solomon, ASU's Demario Richard, Cal transfer Davis Webb, Oregon's Royce Freeman, UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. 

Bednarik Award (college defensive player of the year)

If we learned anything about the Utah Utes last season, it's that the defense in Sack Lake City is not to be messed with. And to back it up, the Utes placed both Kylie Fitts and Lowell Lotulelei on the watch list for the Bednarik Award. The 206 continued to represent as well, with UW placing both Budda Baker and Sidney Jones on the watch list.

Other defensive Pac-12 standouts named to the list include Arizona's Paul Magloire, ASU's Salamo Fiso, Colorado DB Chidobe Awuzie, Solomon Thomas of Stanford, UCLA's Eddie Vanderdoes, and USC all-everything talent Adoree' Jackson.