Thirteen Ohio State football players were selected as preseason nominees for national awards over the past two weeks.
Despite the uncertainty that still surrounds whether the 2020 college football season will actually begin in September, #WatchListSZN remained alive and well for the past two weeks, as the National College Football Awards Association released watch lists for 14 national college football awards.
All but two of those award watch lists (the Doak Walker Award and Paul Hornung Award) included at least one Buckeye.
Because preseason watch lists tend to be expansive – some of them include 90 or more players – and tend to be based on experience more than anything else, one shouldn't place too much stock in them. Even players who aren’t on those watch lists can still win those awards if they have breakout seasons, and there are plenty of players on those watch lists who are likely long shots to win those awards.
When we’re talking about the Buckeyes, though, there are some certainly legitimate candidates to win national awards if the season is played this fall.
Below, after an honorable-mention look at some of the other Buckeyes who were named to watch lists over the past two weeks, we count down the five Ohio State stars who are most likely to make a run at major individual hardware in 2020.
Others on Watch Lists
Tuf Borland, Baron Browning and Pete Werner: Butkus Award
Ohio State is the only team in the country with three linebackers on the Butkus Award watch list, which is reason to believe the Buckeyes’ linebacker corps will be one of the nation’s best this year, but none of them are superstars. Any one of them would need to make an enormous leap in their senior year to make a serious run at being named the nation’s best linebacker.
Luke Farrell: John Mackey Award
Unless Ohio State decides to start throwing to the tight end at a substantially higher rate than it has in any recent season, Farrell isn’t winning the John Mackey Award – and even if the Buckeyes do throw more passes to their tight ends, many of those targets will likely go to Jeremy Ruckert.
Blake Haubeil: Lou Groza Award
Haubeil is one of the most talented kickers in the country – he ranked in the top 15 nationally in field goal percentage (13-of-15) and was one of just nine Football Bowl Subdivision kickers to make a 55-plus-yard field goal last season – but his candidacy to win the Lou Groza Award could be hurt by the likelihood that Ohio State probably won’t settle for a ton of field goal attempts in 2020.
Drue Chrisman: Ray Guy Award
Chrisman has already been a Ray Guy Award semifinalist twice, so he’s certainly going to be up for consideration for this award as long as he continues with the high-level punting that’s been a staple of his Ohio State career. Like Haubeil, though, his chances of actually winning the award could be hurt by the Buckeyes’ high-powered offense keeping him off the field.
Master Teague: Wuerffel Trophy
Teague certainly appears to have the right attributes for the Wuerffel Trophy, which is “presented to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.” Character-based awards often go to graduating seniors, though, and are more difficult to forecast winners for than awards strictly based on on-field play.
5. Chris Olave: Biletnikoff Award
Olave has visions of being college football’s best receiver this year, and he’s capable of putting himself in that conversation. He was Ohio State’s best receiver last season, catching 49 passes for 849 yards and 12 touchdowns, and he should be in line for an even bigger role now that he’s the most experienced receiver on the roster.
That said, he faces stiff competition for the Biletnikoff Award, including reigning award winner Ja’Marr Chase of LSU. Ohio State is still expected to rotate its receivers regularly, which could keep him from putting up the kind of numbers needed to make a serious run at the award.
4. Wyatt Davis: Outland Trophy
Ohio State has three offensive linemen on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, also including Josh Myers and Thayer Munford, but Davis is the most likely among them to be a frontrunner for the award. Already a first-team All-American last season, Davis is considered by many to be the best returning interior offensive lineman in college football, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him become a national award finalist.
Like Olave, though, Davis will have to beat out a loaded field of candidates for the Outland, including last year’s honoree, Oregon left tackle Penei Sewell.
Wyatt Davis is well within the conversation for being college football's best offensive lineman in 2020.
3. Josh Myers: Rimington Trophy
The Rimington Trophy hasn’t actually announced its 2020 watch list yet, but it’s safe to assume Myers – who was already on it last year before he had ever started a game at Ohio State – will be again this year. And if he can perform at least as well as he did in 2019, he should be among the frontrunners to win the Rimington in 2020.
Three Ohio State centers have won the Rimington, the most in the award’s 20-year history, including back-to-back winners under Greg Studrawa’s coaching with Billy Price and Pat Elflein in 2016 and 2017. Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson has been adamant he believes Myers is the best center in the country, and he’ll be on the radar of Rimington voters from the beginning this year. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him become Ohio State’s third winner of the trophy in a five-year span.
2. Shaun Wade: Jim Thorpe Award
The Jim Thorpe Award campaign for Wade started all the way back in January, when Ryan Day said Wade “should be a Thorpe Award finalist right off the get-go.” The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame obliged, including Wade on its watch list of 49 defensive backs, and he’ll enter the 2020 season as one of the favorites to win the award as college football’s best defensive back.
As Wade moves outside to be Ohio State’s No. 1 cornerback this year, he’s looking to follow in Jeff Okudah’s footsteps and establish himself as the best cornerback in the country, and he’s talented enough to do so. The fact that Okudah didn’t win the Thorpe Award last year shows how difficult it is to actually win the award – though many would argue that Okudah was snubbed – but Wade will certainly be in the conversation if he performs up to expectations in his new role.
Wade also made the watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, both of which honor college football’s best overall defensive player, which is indicative of how respected he already is as a player. Winning those awards might be more of a long shot – the Bednarik has been won by a defensive back just once in the past eight years, while the Nagurski hasn’t been won by a defensive back since 2003 – but he will be looking to become Ohio State’s second straight winner of those awards, as Chase Young won them both last year.
1. Justin Fields: Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award
The only one of last year’s four Heisman finalists who is still a college football player this year, Fields is a co-favorite for this year’s Heisman Trophy – and with that the Maxwell Award, which also honors college football’s most outstanding player, and the Davey O’Brien Award, which honors the nation’s best quarterback – along with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and certainly the frontrunner in the eyes of Ohio State fans.
That, perhaps more than any other reason, is one reason why a canceled football season this fall – or one moved to spring that Fields would have to seriously consider skipping to protect his NFL future – would be an extremely tough pill to swallow for the Buckeyes and their supporters. Fields is the No. 1 reason why Ohio State is considered a top national championship contender in 2020, and he'll have a chance to both be the best player in college football and cement himself as one of the best players in school history if he gets the chance to play another year.
Fields was already spectacular in his first season leading Ohio State’s offense, and he could be even better now that he has a full year of experience under his belt. It’s likely the Buckeyes’ offense will become more quarterback-centric now that J.K. Dobbins is in the NFL, which could allow him to put up even bigger numbers – on a per-game basis since the season will be shortened – as both a passer and a runner.
If Fields can stay healthy, play the full duration of however long the season ends up being and build upon his already excellent play in 2019, he’s more than capable of winning Ohio State’s eighth Heisman Trophy, fifth Maxwell Award and/or second Davey O’Brien Award.
