With the 2024 college football campaign on our doorstep, another season is already upon us. It’s one that sets the table for the feast we’re about to consume, preparing us for the top players we will witness in action these coming fall Saturdays.
That’s right. It’s award watch list season, and earlier this week, the Maxwell Football Club released the Maxwell Award watch list. The Group of Five has significant representation on the annual preseason honors list, with 17 players receiving recognition and two programs placing multiple players in contention for the award.
Which Group of Five Players Are on the 2024 Maxwell Award Watch List?
A longstanding tradition in the sport, the Maxwell Award has been awarded since 1937, and the 2024 season will mark the 88th edition of its presentation. Honoring the College Football Player of the Year, previous winners include Michael Penix Jr. and Caleb Williams. A team from the current crop of Group of Five programs hasn’t won the award since 1974, when Steve Joachim hoisted the trophy for the then-independent Temple Owls.
Could that be set to change this season? A 17-strong list of student-athletes on the Maxwell Award watch list features several Group of Five contenders who can lay claim to being amongst the very best in the sport, regardless of which conference they will compete in this fall. You can find talent everywhere in college football, and a winner could come from this group of players.
The main chance of a Group of Five player winning the Maxwell Award sits at the feet of Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty. The reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year racked up nearly 2,000 scrimmage yards last fall, showcasing his dominance as a pure rusher while flashing a pass-catching ability that few wide receivers can match.
While Jeanty is undoubtedly the best player at the Group of Five level, in a quarterback-dominated honors landscape, Liberty Flames passer Kaidon Salter is a name to know ahead of this season. His inclusion on the Maxwell Award watch list comes after the dual-threat QB guided his team to a CUSA title at the first time of asking. Another big year can be expected.
Liberty is one of two Group of Five teams with multiple representatives on the Maxwell Award watch list. Bowling ball rusher Quinton Cooley earns national recognition after a scintillating season in 2023. Meanwhile, Texas State is set to be a Sun Belt contender behind returning rusher Ismail Mahdi and the addition of quarterback Jordan McCloud from James Madison.
The last non-quarterback to win the College Football Player of the Year prize was a wide receiver (DeVonta Smith), and the Group of Five has two pass catchers on the Maxwell Award watch list. Both Tory Horton and Ricky White attracted Power Four attention this offseason but returned to Colorado State and UNLV to wreak havoc once more in 2024. The full Group of Five players list:
- Joey Aguilar, QB, Appalachian State
- Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
- Terion Stewart, RB, Bowling Green
- Tory Horton, WR, Colorado State
- Brayden Schager, QB, Hawaii
- Kaidon Salter, QB, Liberty
- Quinton Cooley, RB, Liberty
- Seth Henigan, QB, Memphis
- Antario Brown, RB, Northern Illinois
- Marquez Cooper, RB, San Diego State
- Byrum Brown, QB, USF
- Jordan McCloud, QB, Texas State
- Ismail Mahdi, RB, Texas State
- Makhi Hughes, RB, Tulane
- Ricky White, WR, UNLV
- Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State
- TJ Finley, QB, Western Kentucky
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