A trio of Buckeyes received a notable preseason recognition on Monday, as wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins were all named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, given annually to the best player in college football.
Ohio State’s three representatives are tied for the most in college football with Miami (Fla.), which had running back Damien Martinez, wide receiver Xavier Restrepo and quarterback Cam Ward make the cut. No other team had more than two players featured on the watch list.
Egbuka is named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list for the second consecutive season. The senior, who is projected to be a first-round NFL draft selection by many, is expected to emerge as Ohio State’s top wide receiver target this season after an injury-riddled 2023 campaign in which he collected 41 receptions for 515 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Although Ohio State has yet to officially announce who Egbuka will be catching passes from this season, many expect it to be the veteran Kansas State transfer Howard, who, like Egbuka, finds himself on the preseason watch list for the second consecutive season.
Howard enters fall camp as the presumptive favorite to win the starting job over Devin Brown and Julian Sayin, who Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said earlier this offseason were both still in the mix for the starting role. The veteran is the favorite to start for the Buckeyes in large part due to his performance the past two seasons with the Wildcats, where he threw for a combined 4,276 passing yards and 39 touchdowns while also rushing for a combined 373 yards and 12 touchdowns as Kansas State’s starter.
Judkins, like Howard, joins the Buckeyes after two strong seasons at a Power Five school in Ole Miss, where he was a two-time first-team All-SEC running back after rushing for 2,725 yards and 31 touchdowns his first two collegiate seasons. The Pike Road, Ala., native is expected to garner a significant amount of carries for Ohio State this season alongside former All-Big Ten tailback TreVeyon Henderson, creating what many consider is the premier running back duo in the nation.
Egbuka, Howard and Judkins are three of 80 players featured on the Maxwell Award preseason watch list. Some notable names also on the list include: quarterbacks Drew Allar (Penn State), Carson Beck (Georgia), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Shadeur Sanders (Colorado) and former Buckeyes Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Kyle McCord (Syracuse); running backs Donovan Edwards (Michigan), Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State), Kyle Monangai (Rutgers) and Nic Singleton (Penn State) and wide receiver Luther Burden (Missouri).
Only quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs were featured on this year’s watch list.
