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Three Mountain West Players Named To Paul Hornung Award Watchlist
McLane Mannix, Avery Williams and Juwan Washington are the Mountain West’s most versatile athletes.
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The MWC has playmakers.
Watchlist season continues this morning with the release of the Paul Hornung Award watchlist. Given annually to the nation’s most versatile player, there are three names from the Mountain West among 48 on this year’s preseason list.
Nevada receiver McLane Mannix emerged last fall as one of the most dynamic freshmen in the country, finishing with 57 catches for 778 yards and six touchdowns. He also managed eight plays of 30-plus yards, a figure which tied for fourth among Mountain West receivers in 2017.
Boise State cornerback Avery Williams was another of the conference’s freshman breakouts in more ways than one. He racked up 45 tackles, eight passes defended and two interceptions on defense, and he was also one of nine FBS players to return multiple punts for touchdowns. And if that wasn’t enough, he also averaged 24.7 yards per return on 15 kickoffs.
San Diego State running back Juwan Washington might have missed out on the Doak Walker watchlist but he, like Williams, spent 2017 helping the Aztecs in multiple phases of the game. He ran for 759 yards on 127 attempts, a six-yard-per-carry average, and scored seven touchdowns on the ground. Washington also returned two kickoffs for scores, as well, one of just 16 players in the country to do so.
Last year’s Paul Hornung Award winner was former Penn State running back Saquan Barkley.
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