For Immediate Release: December 17, 2020
Contact: Al Carbone (203) 671-4421 Follow us on Twitter @WalterCampFF
Walter Camp Football Foundation Announces “Players to Watch” for 2020 Player of the Year Award
New Haven, Conn. – The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the names of twenty “Players to Watch” for its 2020- Player of the Year award, the fourth-oldest college football award in the nation.
Players from the top seven teams in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings are on the list, including quarterback Mac Jones, wide receiver Davonta Smith (sic) and running back Najee Harris from top-ranked Alabama. Quarterback Ian Book from second-ranked Notre Dame is on the watch list along with quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne from third-ranked Clemson.
The 20-player watch list includes eight quarterbacks, six running backs, six defensive players and two wide receivers/tight ends. Fourteen different schools and eight conferences are represented on the list.
The Walter Camp Player of the Year is voted on by the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors. A list of five finalists will be announced on Monday, December 28, and the winner announced on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, January 7.
The 2019 Walter Camp Player of the Year was former LSU (and current Cincinnati Bengals) quarterback Joe Burrow.
2020 Walter Camp Player of the Year Semifinalists
Ian Book, QB, Senior, Notre Dame
Zaven Collins, LB, Junior, Tulsa
Travis Etienne, RB, Senior, Clemson
Justin Fields, QB, Junior, Ohio State
Breece Hall, RB, Sophomore, Iowa State
Najee Harris, RB, Senior, Alabama
Tarron Jackson, DE, RS Senior, Coastal Carolina
Buddy Johnson, LB, Senior, Texas A&M
Mac Jones, QB, Junior, Alabama
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Junior, Clemson
Daviyon Nixon, DL, Junior, Iowa
Jaret Patterson, RB, Junior, Buffalo
Kyle Pitts, TE, Junior, Florida
Desmond Ridder, QB, Junior, Cincinnati
Mike Rose, LB, Junior, Iowa State
Kedon Slovis, QB, Sophomore, USC
Devonta Smith, WR, Senior, Alabama
Kyle Trask, QB, Senior, Florida
Shaun Wade, DB, RS Junior, Ohio State
Zach Wilson, QB, Junior, BYU
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side
The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org,@WalterCampFF) – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s website, www.ncfaa.org.
