Air Force Football: Donald Hammond III Is MWWire’s 2019 Offensive Player of the Year

The Air Force quarterback is our staff’s choice after putting together one of the most prolific seasons in Mountain West football history.

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Quietly dominant, deservedly recognized.

mwwire’s 2019 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Players of the Year | Freshmen of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Our staff has chosen Air Force quarterback Donald Hammond III as our postseason selection for Mountain West football’s offensive player of the year.

Because Air Force doesn’t run your typical offense, you can be forgiven for overlooking just how good Hammond has been throughout the fall. As a passer, he completed 52-of-99 attempts for 1,286 yards with 13 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He averaged 13 yards per attempt and finished the regular season with a 194.88 passer rating, which is far and away the highest figure of any Mountain West quarterback with at least his 99 attempts this decade.

If that weren’t enough, Hammond III was especially dominant as a passer in conference play, posting a 254.44 passer rating that is unmatched, period, by any FBS quarterback in their own conference action since 2010.

Oh, yeah, and he also ran a little bit and did that pretty well, too, averaging 4.63 yards on 111 attempts and accounting for 11 more touchdowns on the ground as part of the Falcons’ best overall running attack since 2015. Even if Air Force came up just short of its second Mountain division title, there’s no denying Hammond III earned this honor.

Also received votes: Cole McDonald, QB, Hawaii; Josh Love, QB, San Jose State; George Holani, RB, Boise State; John Hightower, WR, Boise State