Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey has the chance to be the first back-to-back winner in Paul Hornung Award history. But with a deep field of multitalented athletes also on the watch list released on Friday, it could prove to be a difficult feat.
Ahead of the 2016 season, McCaffrey and Adoree' Jackson of USC are two Pac-12 names headlining the list.
McCaffrey broke the NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a single season last year (3,864). He was also the only player in the FBS to lead his team in both rushing yards (2,019) and receiving yards (645).
Jackson, a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award last season, started 12 times at cornerback (all but matchups with Utah and UCLA), once at safety (versus UCLA) and once at wide receiver (versus Utah) in 2015. The rising junior was the only player nationally with at least 400 yards receiving, 600 yards in kickoff returns, 200 yards in punt returns and 30 tackles last season.
Other Pac-12 players appearing on this year's watch list include:
Ishmael Adams, UCLA
Victor Bolden Jr., Oregon State
Seth Collins, Oregon State
Donovan Lee, Colorado
Charles Nelson, Oregon
Now in its seventh year, the award honoring the most versatile player in college football has so far seen three winners from the Pac-12: Stanford's Owen Marecic (2010), Washington's Shaq Thompson (2014) and McCaffrey (2015).
The winner will be honored at a banquet presented by KentuckyOne Health in late February in downtown Louisville.