Tagovailoa, Young Lead Race for Maxwell, Bednarik Awards

Though not definitive, college football awards watch lists can play a role in hinting at top prospects for the upcoming draft.

Watch lists for the 2019 college football season have begun to release, starting with the Maxwell and Bednarik awards Monday.

For the Bednarik award, the past three winners (Josh Allen, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jonathan Allen) were first-round picks. The 2018 Maxwell winner, Tua Tagovailoa, was ineligible for the 2019 NFL Draft, though he is expected to be on of the first names off the board in 2020. Before him, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson and Marcus Mariota were first-round picks while Derrick Henry was a second.

This year’s crop of players is no different.

Tua Tagovailoa returns as the favorite for the Maxwell, though he’ll have to fight off Clemson’s sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence, much like their battle for the Heisman trophy.

Here are some other notable names vying for the Maxwell Award as well as a 2020 first-round selection:

• K.J. Costello, Stanford
• J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State
• Jacob Eason, Washington
• Jake Fromm, Georgia
• Justin Herbert, Oregon
• Jerry Jeudy, Alabama

The Full list of 2019 Maxwell watch list players is available here.

For the Bednarik, Chase Young, Derrick Brown and Grant Delpit will begin the season as the most likely contenders seeing as they are the top three defenders on nearly every 2020 board.

These are a few names to keep an eye out for as well:

• C.J. Henderson, Florida
• Dylan Moses, Alabama
• J.R. Reed, Georgia
• Isaiah Simmons, Clemson
• Xavier Thomas, Clemson

The full list of 2019 Bednarik watch list players is available here.

More watch lists will become available through the end of next week.