Oklahoma Football Places Five on 2016 Maxwell, Bednarik Award Watch Lists

What I refer to as the college football silly season has begun and, as usual, Oklahoma football is front and center in all the action and name dropping.

Nov 14, 2015; Waco, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) runs away from Baylor Bears safety Orion Stewart (28) during the game at McLane Stadium. The Sooners defeat the Bears 44-34. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

This is the time of year, still a month or more out from the start of preseason training camp, when all of the national award committees begin releasing their exhaustive list of candidate names for the seemingly endless number of individual awards that will be served up at the conclusion of yet another college football season.

Not to diminish the importance of these individual accolades at the national level, but it appears that it is the same schools practically every year that are represented when the initial candidate watch lists come out and that only the individual names themselves are different year over year.

The 2016 preseason watch lists for the Maxwell Award and the Bednarik Award are the first ones to draw attention this time around.

Two Oklahoma Sooners – quarterback Baker Mayfield and running back Samaje Perine – have been named preseason candidates for the prestigious Maxwell Award, which honors the player of the year in college football. Mayfield and Perine were two of the three big guns on an Oklahoma offense that ranked seventh in the country last season, averaging 530 yards of offense per game.

Mayfield an Perine are two of 12 Big 12 players who are on the preseason watch list for the 80th year of the Maxwell Award.

Nov 7, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Iowa State Cyclones running back Mike Warren (2) is tackled by Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Jordan Evans (26) during the second quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Two former Oklahoma football All-Americans are past winners of the Maxwell Award: running back/wide-receiver Tommy McDonald in 1956 and quarterback Jason White in 2004.

Three Sooners are early considerations for the Bednarik Award, recognizing the best defensive player in college football. The OU players who are candidates for this award are senior linebacker Jordan Evans, redshirt junior defensive tackle Charles Walker and junior cornerback Jordan Thomas.

Thomas’ status this season is a little shaky at the moment, however, following his recent arrest in an off-the-field incident involving public intoxication, alleged assault and battery and interference.

Oklahoma has had one previous winner of the Bednarik Award: linebacker Teddy Lehman in 2003.

As many as 90 names are included on the initial watch lists for both the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards. That original lists will be diminished, as well as added and subtracted from, as the season progresses. Eventually, the candidate lists will be trimmed to three finalists. That will happen prior to Thanksgiving, and the winners will be revealed as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN on Dec. 8.

So, as you can see, it’s way too early to get too excited about all of this, other than as a prelude and lead up to the kickoff of what is certain to be another thrilling college football season.

Both of these awards are sponsored by the Maxwell Football Club, which is why the candidate list for both was announced at the same time.

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