Twelve quarterbacks, including Heisman front-runners Marcus Mariota and Dak Prescott, were among 20 semifinalists announced Monday for the Maxwell Award, which goes annually to the nation's top player.
Ten of the past 11 winners have been quarterbacks, including Alabama's AJ McCarron last year. The only non-quarterback in that span was Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o in 2012.
The other quarterbacks named as semifinalists were TCU's Trevone Boykin, Marshall's Rakeem Cato, Michigan State's Connor Cook, Notre Dame's Everett Golson, UCLA's Brett Hundley, Auburn's Nick Marshall, Baylor's Bryce Petty, Mississippi's Bo Wallace, Kansas State's Jake Waters and Florida State's Jameis Winston.
Two of the other semifinalists were wide receivers (Alabama's Amari Cooper and West Virginia's Kevin White), and the other six were running backs (Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah, USC's Javorius Allen, Indiana's Tevin Coleman, Pitt's James Conner, Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and Miami's Duke Johnson).
The three finalists will be announced Nov. 24, and the winner will be announced Dec. 11. The award is voted on by a group that includes Maxwell Football Club members, coaches, sports information directors and selected national media.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
