AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn standouts Bo Nix and Tank Bigsby have been named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award while linebacker Zakoby McClain earned a spot on the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list.
The Maxwell Football Club announced its watch lists Monday for the 85th Maxwell Award presented annually to the outstanding player in college football, and for the 27th annual Chuck Bednarik Award presented annually to the outstanding defensive player in college football.
Nix, the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019 and one of Auburn's team captains as a sophomore in 2020, has totaled 28 touchdown passes and 14 rushing touchdowns in 24 games in his first two seasons.
Bigsby, the first Auburn football player to average 6 yards per carry since James Bostic in 1993, earned SEC Co-Freshman of the Year honors in 2020, rushing for 834 yards, the second most for an Auburn freshman in program history.Zakoby McClain (No. 9) has been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list
McClain led the nation with 113 tackles last season, averaging 10.3 stops per game, which ranked third in the SEC and 19th nationally.
Both awards are proudly sponsored by Mammoth Tech and The Athletes' Corner, which are Executive Partners of the Maxwell Football Club.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell who was a former standout at the Swarthmore College and a renowned sports writer and football official.
The Maxwell Award watch list will once again incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast.
The list features six returning semifinalists from 2020 including Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina), Breece Hall (Iowa State), D'Eriq King (Miami), Sam Howell (North Carolina), and Dillon Gabriel (UCF). The full list consists of 80 players, with 14 schools having two players represented.
The Chuck Bednarik Award has been presented to the College Defensive Player of the Year since 1995 and is named in honor of the former standout at the University of Pennsylvania and with the Philadelphia Eagles. Bednarik is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of '69 and the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of '67.
The Bednarik Award watch list is comprised of 90 candidates. The list features two returning semifinalists from 2020, Myjai Sanders (Cincinnati) and Kyle Hamilton (Notre Dame). There are 11 schools that have two candidates on the Bednarik watch list.
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 metrics and performance-based assessments to selection committee staff, and several senior PFF analysts are members of our selection committee. Phil Steele's College Football Preview is generally recognized as the most complete preseason magazine. XOS ThunderCloud provides the Maxwell Club selection committee with access to game footage from all FBS colleges.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer