Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia State, Indiana, Louisiana Tech, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M each placed two receivers apiece on the Biletnikoff Award watch list, which was released on Wednesday.
The Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to college football's top receiver. The award is named for Pro Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff, who played 14 seasons for the Oakland Raiders after a distinguished collegiate career at Florida State.
Texas A&M's duo on the watch list features Christian Kirk, who had 80 receptions for 1,009 yards and seven touchdowns in 2015. The Aggies' Josh Reynolds (51 catches, 907 yards, 5 TDs) also is on the watch list. Kirk posted those numbers as a freshman in 2015, and enters the 2016 season as the No. 6-rated wide receiver in college football, according to NFL Media analyst Lance Zierlein. The top-rated receiver is Alabama's Calvin Ridley, who also is entering his sophomore season and among two Crimson Tide receivers on the Biletnikoff Award watch list (the other is Gehrig Dieter, a graduate transfer from Bowling Green).
Corey Coleman of Baylor won the Biletnikoff Award last season and went on to be the No. 15 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Amari Cooper of Alabama won the award in 2014, and he earned a Pro Bowl nod in his rookie season with the Oakland Raiders.
The 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award will be announced on Nov. 14, and the three finalists will be revealed on Nov. 22. The winner will announced on Dec. 8.
Watch lists for other awards will be released this month as follows:
July 5: Bednarik Award / Maxwell Award
July 6: Mackey Award / Rimington Trophy
July 7: Lou Groza Award / Ray Guy Award
July 8: Bronko Nagurski Trophy / Outland Trophy
July 11: Jim Thorpe Award
July 12: Butkus Award
July 13: Biletnikoff Award / Wuerffel Trophy
July 14: Davey O'Brien Award / Doak Walker Award
July 15: Walter Camp Award / Paul Hornung Award
2016 Biletnikoff Award watch list
Rodney Adams, South Florida
Chance Allen, Houston
Marcell Ateman, Oklahoma State
Josh Atkinson, Tulsa
Devonte Boyd, UNLV
KD Cannon, Baylor
Jehu Chesson, Michigan
Simmie Cobbs Jr., Indiana
Corey Davis, Western Michigan
Robert Davis, Georgia State
Gehrig Dieter, Alabama
Malachi Dupre, Louisiana State
Isaiah Ford, Virginia Tech
Shelton Gibson, West Virginia
Chris Godwin, Penn State
Kenny Golladay, Northern Illinois
Penny Hart, Georgia State
Carlos Henderson, Louisiana Tech
Hasaan Henderson, Nevada
Mack Hollins, North Carolina
Richie James, Middle Tennessee State
Isaiah Jones, East Carolina
Ricky Jones, Indiana
Christian Kirk, Texas A&M
Jesse Kroll, Central Michigan
Jerome Lane, Akron
Allen Lazard, Iowa State
KeVonn Mabon, Ball State
Gabe Marks, Washington State
Taquan Mizzell, Virginia
Ronnie Moore, Bowling Green
Drew Morgan, Arkansas
Nicholas Norris, Western Kentucky
Zach Pascal, Old Dominion
Brandon Reilly, Nebraska
Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M
Jerico Richardson, Nevada
Calvin Ridley, Alabama
Fred Ross, Mississippi State
Travis Rudolph, Florida State
Artavis Scott, Clemson
Sebastian Smith, Ohio
JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC
Thomas Sperbeck, Boise State
Courtland Sutton, SMU
Taywan Taylor, Western Kentucky
Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech
Cody Thompson, Toledo
DJ Thompson, Southern Miss
James Washington, Oklahoma State
Jordan Westerkamp, Nebraska
Kermit Whitfield, Florida State
Mike Williams, Clemson
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
