Allstate Sugar Bowl Announces Manning Award Watch List

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 2019 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 have another great group of quarterbacks coming back this season,” said Archie Manning. “For our Watch List, we aim to recognize players who have already been successful on the field for their teams, but every quarterback in the country remains eligible. We’ll make some midseason additions to the list as some of the younger quarterbacks and the transfers establish themselves. I’m really looking forward to getting the season started this weekend and keeping a close eye on everyone right through the national championship in New Orleans.”

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 17. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Thursday, November 28. 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 leads the way with six selections, while the Pac-12 and the Big Ten each have four selections, followed by the ACC and the Big 12 with three each. There are 16 seniors on the list while the junior class is represented by 10 quarterbacks and the sophomore class has four.

Five of last year’s Manning Award finalists are included on this year’s Watch List: Ian Book (Notre Dame), Jake Fromm (Georgia), D’Eriq King (Houston), Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) and Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama).

“We’ve had the opportunity to recognize 14 outstanding quarterbacks with the Manning Award,” said Jeff Hundley, Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO. “It’s 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 15 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 12 different schools and from four different conferences. The Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) leads the way with five Manning Award honorees, while 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) have four Manning Award winners each. Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield) joins Texas (McCoy and Young) as the only schools with two different winners.

Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Twelve of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Murray, Mayfield, Griffin III, Marcus Mariota, Ryan, Watson (twice) and Winston. On the other hand, Murray, 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. Ten 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. Manning Award winners won bowl games in 12 of the 15 seasons they won the honor. Ten Manning Award honorees led their teams to the CFP Semifinals or a BCS Championship game appearance (Matt Leinart, Mariota, Mayfield, McCoy, Murray, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and Young). Six won national championships (Leinart, Newton, Tebow, Watson, Winston and Young).

Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Five honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Murray, Mayfield, 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 players from 59 different schools were honored during the 2018 season.

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