The 80 names listed on the Preseason 2019 Maxwell Award watch list represents a who’s who of the best offensive players in college football this coming season, and it includes two Oklahoma football teammates.
Sooner quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb are on the Maxwell Award watch list for the coming season, and if they have as good a season as some people believe they can have, they have a good chance of being among the last names standing when the list is pared down to a select few finalists.
Hurts and Lamb have yet to connect on a pass in an official Sooner game, but that’s merely a formality as these two are going to be on the sending and receiving end of plenty of passes this coming season as key playmakers in the prolific Oklahoma offense.
In all, there are 36 quarterbacks and 12 wide receivers who are on the 2019 preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the player believed to be the best all-around college football player.
This is the 83rd year for the award. Three Oklahoma Sooners have won it previously (Tommy McDonald in 1956, Jason White in 2004 and Baker Mayfield in 2017).
Lamb is the leading returning receiver on the 2019 Oklahoma roster. He caught 65 passes a year ago for 1,158 yards, 18th best in the nation, and a team-leading 11 touchdowns. Lamb is expected to be the Sooners’ No. 1 receiving target this season.
Hurts transferred to Oklahoma after three seasons at Alabama. He was 41-3 during his time at Alabama, including playing in three consecutive College Football Playoff national championship games, and was 26-2 as a starter in 2016 and 2017. His career numbers at Alabama were 5,626 passing yards, 1,976 rushing yards and 71 touchdowns (48 passing and 23 rushing).
Hurts is obviously new to the Oklahoma system, but he is a veteran college quarterback with experience in plenty of big games, all of which should serve the Sooners well, especially with the wealth of offensive weapons he will have around him
If Hurts is able to follow in the big footsteps of his two quarterback predecessors at OU, both of whom won the Heisman, he won’t just be contending for the Maxwell Award. He could be in the hunt to become an unprecedented third consecutive Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Oklahoma.