The Maxwell Football Club announced today that Clemson running back Travis Etienne and quarterback Trevor Lawrence have been named as two of 18 semifinalists for the 2020 Maxwell Award. It marks the third Maxwell semifinalist selection of Etienne’s career and the first of Lawrence’s career.
Additional information from award organizers is included below.
Maxwell Football Club Executive Director, Mark Wolpert, announced the 2020 semifinalists for the 84th Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year and the 26th Chuck Bednarik Award for the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. The respective lists include a field of 18 candidates for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards as selected by the Maxwell Football Club National Selection Committee. The Maxwell Football Club has once again partnered with Pro Football Focus (PFF), XOS ThunderCloud and Phil Steele Publications as selection committee partners. PFF provides detailed statistical and performance based assessments to selection committee staff, and several senior PFF analysts have been added to the selection committee and have participated in the process. Phil Steele’s Football Guide is generally recognized as the most complete football reference in the country. XOS ThunderCloud provides the Maxwell Club selection committee with access to game footage from all FBS colleges.
A strong field of Maxwell Award semifinalists includes representatives from seven conferences.
Travis Etienne (Clemson) and Justin Fields (Ohio State) join the list for the second consecutive year with the remaining candidates all being first time semifinalists.
On the defensive side of the ball, the field of contenders is comprised of fresh faces, all of whom are making their debuts as Bednarik Award semifinalists. Six different conferences are represented, led by five student-athletes from the ACC and three from the SEC. A total of 6 conferences are represented on the Bednarik list.
Last season, the Maxwell Award was presented to LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and the Bednarik Award went to Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. Burrow was selected with the top overall pick in this year’s NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and Young was selected with the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Football Team.
Maxwell Award SemifinalistsRB Najee Harris, AlabamaQB Mac Jones, AlabamaWR DeVonta Smith, AlabamaQB Zach Wilson, BYUQB Desmond Ridder, CincinnatiRB Travis Etienne, ClemsonQB Trevor Lawrence, ClemsonQB Grayson McCall, Coastal CarolinaTE Kyle Pitts, FloridaQB Kyle Trask, FloridaRB Breece Hall, Iowa StateQB D’Eriq King, MiamiQB Sam Howell, North CarolinaRB Javonte Williams, North CarolinaQB Ian Book, Notre DameQB Justin Fields, Ohio StateWR Elijah Moore, Ole MissQB Dillon Gabriel, UCF
Bednarik Award SemifinalistsCB Patrick Surtain, AlabamaCB Shemar Jean-Charles, Appalachian StateLB Justin Rice, Arkansas StateLB Jon Rhattigan, ArmyDE Myjai Sanders, CincinnatiDE Tarron Jackson, Coastal CarolinaLB Azeez Ojulari, GeorgiaDT Daviyon Nixon, IowaDE Jaelan Phillips, MiamiLB Nick Bolton, MissouriS Kyle Hamilton, Notre DameLB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre DameDE Patrick Jones, PittsburghDE Rashad Weaver, PittsburghS Trevon Moehrig, TCULB Joseph Ossai, TexasLB Zaven Collins, TulsaS Richie Grant, UCF
Semifinalist voting for both of the collegiate awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club will begin on Tuesday Dec. 8 and will close on Dec. 20. Three finalists for each award will be announced on Dec 21st and a finalist round of voting will take place at that time. Eligible voters include Maxwell Football Club members, NCAA head football coaches, sports information directors and selected national media. All semifinalists are listed in alphabetical order by school with the player’s school and position designated.
The winners of the 84th Maxwell Award and the 26th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be broadcast live on ESPN on January 7, 2021.
