2018 Preseason Award Projections: Walter Camp Award

By Charlie Campbell
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Heading into the 2018 college football season, WalterFootball.com will debut our projections for the nation’s leaders during the fall. The All-American teams always have some surprises, and the next fall’s stars could be the headline players next April for the 2019 NFL Draft. We also will project the winners of the postseason awards that are given out to the best of college football.

The Walter Camp Award is given to the Player of the Year in college football. Last year’s winner was Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, whom we had predicted to be the runner-up.

Walter Camp Award Winner:

Will Grier, QB, West Virginia

Surprisingly, Deshaun Watson didn’t win this award for the 2015 or 2016 season. Watson joined Tim Tebow as winning almost every other award possible but not the Walter Camp Award. In this century, only six times has the Walter Camp Award not gone to a quarterback with those previous winners being Derrick Henry, Manti Te’o, Darren McFadden, Reggie Bush, Larry Fitzgerald and Larry Johnson. Thus, I’m going to stick with a quarterback for my prediction.

While other quarterbacks are likely to he higher graded NFL prospects, I think Grier could be the most prolific and deadly quarterback in college football during the 2018 season. The 6-foot-2, 214-pounder has a good arm and is a natural passer of the football. Additionally, Grier has good receiving talent to work with and more experience after starting in 2017. West Virginia has consistently fielded a deadly scoring offense under head coach Dana Holgorsen, and Grier should be more comfortable after starting last year. In 2017, Grier completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,490 yards with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while missing time late in the year with an injury. If he had stayed healthy, he probably would have exceeded 4,000 yards and 40 touchdown passes.

Grier plays in a conference that lacks defensive talent and has shootout games on a weekly basis. During the 2018 season, Grier is going to see a lot of weak defenses and should put up some massive numbers. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is one of the most prolific offensive players in college football and gets a lot of postseason honors, including the Walter Camp Award.




Walter Camp Award Runner-Up:

Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon

Herbert has an NFL skill set and could put up a huge 2018 season with his arm and legs. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound signal-caller displays a good size and a strong arm with the ability to loft in touch passes. Herbert can loft in passes with nice ball placement, leading his receivers and beating quality coverage with the location of his passes. With his height and size, Herbert is comfortable to stand tall in the pocket and demonstrate the patience to let routes develop. Alongside his arm talent, he is a quality athlete with the ability to pick up yards on the ground and should add a good number of rushing touchdowns to his stat line.

As long as he stays healthy, there is no reason to think that Herbert won’t put up massive numbers in 2018. Even though Oregon plays in one of the best conferences in the nation, Herbert has an easy schedule for this coming season. The Ducks start off with teams that should help Herbert pad his stats, including Bowling Green, Portland State and San Jose State. Stanford, Washington and Utah possess the best defenses that will challenge Herbert on his regular-season schedule. He is fully capable of producing a huge season and winning the Walter Camp Award.




Walter Camp Award Dark Horse:

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin

For the dark horse, I’m picking a running back. The Walter Camp Award typically goes to quarterbacks, but occasionally a tailback has won it. The running back who I think has the best shot at winning over a quarterback is Taylor.

Taylor should produce a huge 2018 season and could easily be the most productive running back in college football. As usual, Wisconsin has an excellent offensive line that should run rough shod over a very easy schedule. With the Badgers’ ground-based offense, Taylor is sure to get many rushing opportunities, and it would not be surprising to me if Taylor puts his name in the program’s record book with a prolific year similar to Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and Ron Dayne.

Taylor broke out last year, averaging 6.6 yards per carry for 1,977 yards with 13 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 216-pounder showed an overwhelming combination of size, quickness, and natural running skills in 2017. Around him, Taylor has good support beyond his offensive line, which has multiple future NFL competitors. Wisconsin also has a good defense that should get the ball back to Taylor, and head coach Paul Chryst always seems to engineer a passing attack. I think Taylor is going to have a massive 2018 season. He is a safe bet to be one of the best offensive players in college football and could end up winning some honors that typically go to quarterbacks, like the Walter Camp Award.

Honorable Mentions: Stanford RB Bryce Love, Oklahoma RB Rodney Anderson, Kentucky RB Bennie Snell, Alabama RB Damien Harris, Alabama RB Najee Harris, Ohio State RB J.K. Dobbins, Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald, Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham, Florida State QB Deondre Francois,and Missouri QB Drew Lock.











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