Allstate Sugar Bowl announces Manning Award Watch List for 2017 season

National Honor Recognizes Top Quarterback in Country After Bowls

NEW ORLEANS – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its preseason Watch List on Wednesday. The list includes 30 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2017 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the bowls.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting.

“We once again have a great group of quarterbacks returning to college football this fall,” said Archie Manning. “While this Watch List has many of the best returning players, we look forward to making midseason additions as teams settle on definite starters and as young players step up and make names for themselves. I’m really looking forward to getting the season rolling to see which guys will rise to the top and become Manning Award finalists.”

Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Midseason additions to the Watch List will be announced on Thursday, October 12. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Thursday, November 30. The winner will be announced in the week following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

This year’s Watch List includes players from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The SEC and the ACC lead the way with five selections each, followed by the Big Ten, Mountain West and Sun Belt with three each. There are 13 seniors on the list while the junior class is represented by 12 quarterbacks and the sophomore class has five.

Seven of last year’s Manning Award finalists are included on this year’s Watch List: J.T. Barrett (Ohio State), Jake Browning (Washington), Sam Darnold (USC), Luke Falk (Washington State), Jalen Hurts (Alabama), Lamar Jackson (Louisville) and Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma).

2017 Manning Award Watch List
1. Austin Allen, Sr., Arkansas 245-401 3,430 25 15 69.6
2. Josh Allen, Jr., Wyoming 209-373 3,203 28 15 69.6
3. J.T. Barrett, Sr., Ohio State 233-379 2,555 24 7 68.0 845 rush, 9 TDs
4. Jake Browning, Jr., Washington 243-391 3,430 43 9 81.7
5. Sam Darnold, So., USC 246-366 3,086 31 9 86.8 250 rush, 2 TDs
6. Eric Dungey, Jr., Syracuse 230-355 2,679 15 7 67.2 293 yds, 6 TDs
7. Jacob Eason, So., Georgia 204-370 2,430 16 8 57.6
8. Luke Falk, Sr., Washington State 443-633 4,468 38 11 71.3
9. Riley Ferguson, Sr., Memphis 280-443 3,698 32 10 63.4
10. Ryan Finley, Jr., NC State 243-402 3,055 18 8 68.9
11. Nick Fitzgerald, Jr., Mississippi State 196-361 2,423 21 10 77.3 1,375 rush, 16 TDs
12. Quinton Flowers, Sr., USF 207-331 2,812 24 7 86.5 1,530 rush, 18 TDs
13. Deondre Francois, So., Florida State 235-400 3,350 20 7 79.6 198 rush, 5 TDs
14. Jalen Hurts, So., Alabama 240-382 2,780 23 9 71.6 954 rush, 13 TDs
15. Lamar Jackson, Jr., Louisville 230-409 3,543 30 9 84.1 1,571 rush, 21 TDs
16. Daniel Jones, So.-R, Duke 270-430 2,836 16 9 66.3 486 rush, 7 TDs
17. Taylor Lamb, Sr., App State 197-325 2,281 15 8 67.6 506 rush, 9 TDs
18. Matt Linehan, Sr., Idaho 257-415 3,184 19 10 56.3
19. Drew Lock, Jr., Missouri 237-434 3,399 23 10 58.5
20. Baker Mayfield, Sr., Oklahoma 254-358 3,965 40 8 92.9 177 rush, 6 TDs
21. Trace McSorley, Jr., Penn State 224-387 3,614 29 8 71.7 365 rush, 7 TDs
22. Brogan Roback, Jr., Eastern Mich. 219-372 2,694 18 7 64.8
23. Mason Rudolph, Sr., Oklahoma St. 284-448 4,091 28 4 76.9
24. Brett Rypien, Jr., Boise State 244-394 3,646 24 8 64.1
25. Brandon Silvers, Sr., Troy 293-460 3,180 23 12 58.7
26. Nick Stevens, Sr., Colorado State 129-201 1,936 19 5 85.3
27. Brent Stockstill, Jr., Middle Tenn. 262-414 3,233 31 7 73.1
28. Clayton Thorson, Jr., Northwestern 280-478 3,182 22 9 61.2
29. Mike White, Sr., Western Kentucky 280-416 4,363 37 7 76.8
30. Logan Woodside, Sr., Toledo 289-418 4,129 45 9 77.4

“We have had the opportunity to recognize 12 outstanding quarterbacks with the Manning Award,” said Paul Hoolahan, Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO. “It is truly a great honor for the Allstate Sugar Bowl to sponsor this award and we wish the best of luck to every quarterback and team in the country for another great year of college football.”

In its first 13 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 11 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) lead the way with four Manning Award wins each, while Texas is the only school with two different winners (Colt McCoy and Vince Young).

Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Ten of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Robert Griffin III, Marcus Mariota, Ryan, Watson (twice) and Winston. On the other hand, Watson (in 2015), Young, Manziel and Newton were all 1,000-yard rushers during their Manning years.

Perhaps most impressive among the statistics of the quarterbacks recognized by the Manning Award is touchdowns scored. Eight of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons – Mariota tallied a Manning Award-best 58 touchdowns during his winning campaign in 2014.

One of the more unique aspects of the Manning Award is the fact that it takes account of the quarterbacks’ bowl performances, in addition to the regular season. Twelve of the 13 Manning Award winners won bowl games during the season they won the honor; the lone loss was by McCoy in the 2010 BCS Championship game when he suffered an early injury. In addition to Watson and McCoy, six other Manning honorees (Matt Leinart, Mariota, Newton, Tebow, Winston and Young) led their teams to the national championship game (BCS or CFP). Watson accomplished that feat twice, winning the title this season.

Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Three honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Newton, Russell and Winston), while four others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Griffin, Mariota, Ryan and Young).

All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.

In addition to the Manning Award’s yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Quarterbacks of the Week. Sixty-one players from 59 different schools were honored during the 2016 season.