Three Buckeyes make Walter Camp Player of the Year preseason watch list
COLUMBUS — Three Ohio State players made the Walter Camp Player of the Year preseason watch list Monday: quarterback Will Howard, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and running back Quinshon Judkins.
Ohio State and Notre Dame are the only two schools with three players on the watch list. Seven other schools — Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Ole Miss and Penn State — each have two honorees.
Former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who also won the Heisman Trophy last year, was the 2023 Walter Camp Player of the Year.
In early November, the watch list will be pared down to 10 semifinalists. Then, on Nov. 26, three finalists will be announced. The Walter Camp Player of the Year is voted on by the 133 FBS head coaches and sports information directors. It’s important to note that a player doesn’t have to appear on the preseason watch list to win the award or to be selected to a Walter Camp All-America team.
The recipient will be crowned on Dec. 12 during ESPN’s College Football Awards Show.
As for Ohio State’s honorees…
QB Will Howard
Howard is the favorite to earn the QB1 role at Ohio State this season. The 6-foot-4, 237-pound, dual-threat quarterback transferred in from Kansas State this offseason after spending four years with the Wildcats. Howard arrived at Ohio State with 27 starts and a Big 12 title under his belt. He’s coming off a 33-touchdown season, during which he tossed 24 scoring strikes and ran for nine more touchdowns. Since joining the Buckeyes, Howard has competed with redshirt sophomore Devin Brown for the starting quarterback job. Howard got the starting nod in the spring game and, most recently, took the majority of first-team reps in team periods over the course of Ohio State’s third and fourth training camp practices this past weekend.
WR Emeka Egbuka
Egbuka is in line to be the Buckeyes’ top receiver in 2024. He entered the 2023 season as not only the second-best wideout at Ohio State but arguably as the second-best receiver prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. An ankle injury Week 6 derailed what could have been another prolific season for Egbuka, who wound up missing the next three games. He came back Week 10 at Rutgers and finished the year with 41 catches for 515 yards and four touchdowns, including one score in the regular season finale at Michigan. Egbuka stepped up earlier in the year with a 3rd-and-19 catch at Notre Dame that set the stage for the Buckeyes’ last-second, game-winning touchdown. Egbuka posted 74 receptions, 1,151 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns — not to mention two rushing scores — in 2022. He needs 78 catches and 1,042 receiving yards to become the all-time Ohio State leader in those categories.
RB Quinshon Judkins
Like Howard, Judkins is another notable Ohio State transfer addition. He came to the Buckeyes from Ole Miss, where he became a two-time All-SEC selection. Judkins was responsible for the second-best rushing season by a freshman in SEC history. As far as first-year players in the league go, Judkins’ 1,567 rushing yards ranked only behind former Georgia star Herschel Walker’s 1,616 yards on the ground in 1980. Then he notched 1,158 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns last season as a sophomore. Plus, he tacked on 22 receptions for 149 yards and two more scores, meaning that, for the second year in a row, he posted 17 total touchdowns. Judkins went on to hit the portal, then committed to Ohio State minutes after Michigan won the national title. He’s teaming up with Buckeyes senior TreVeyon Henderson to form a two-headed monster in the backfield this season.
