Hopkins Added to Walter Camp Preseason Watch List

Official Release

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Walter Camp Football Foundation announced that senior quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. was named one of forty "players to watch" for its 2019 Player of the Year award, the nation's fourth-oldest individual college football accolade.

This is the Charlotte, N.C., native's third preseason honor as he was also tabbed to the Maxwell Award and Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award watch lists.

Under center last year, Hopkins Jr. became the first player in Academy history to throw and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. He also registered five rushing touchdowns in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl to tie the Army single-game record. The Charlotte, N.C., native closed out his first year as the primary play caller with 17 rushing touchdowns, which tied Carlton Jones '06 and Trent Steelman '13 for a single-season program record.

Ten players on the 2019 watch list, including the 2018 Player of the Year Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama) have previously earned Walter Camp All-America honors. Tagovailoa was a First Team All-American last season along with his teammate, wide receiver Jordy Jeudy, and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor.

There are 30 offensive players (16 quarterbacks, seven running backs and seven receivers/tight ends) on the preseason watch list along with 10 from the defensive side of the ball.

In all, 35 schools and 11 conferences (including independents) are represented on the list with Alabama having four players on the list. Defending national champion Clemson has two players on the watch list, along with Oregon.

"We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation," Foundation president Mario Coppola said. "This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football."

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2019 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 130 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN on Thursday, December 12. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation's 53rd annual national awards banquet on January 18, 2020 in New Haven, Conn.

2019 Walter Camp Player of Year Preseason Players to Watch
Eno Benjamin, RB, Jr., Arizona State
Ian Book, QB, Sr., Notre Dame
Matt Bushman, TE, Jr., BYU
Andre Cisco, DB, Soph., Syracuse
Grant Delpit, DB, Jr., LSU
AJ Dillon, RB, Jr., Boston College
Sam Ehlinger, QB, Jr., Texas
Travis Etienne, XX, Jr., Clemson
Mason Fine, QB, Sr., North Texas
Paddy Fisher, LB, Jr., Northwestern
Jake Fromm, QB, Jr., Georgia
Jonathan Garvin, DE, Jr., Miami Fla.
Richie Grant, S, Jr., UCF
Bryce Hall, DB, Sr., Virginia
Najee Harris, RB, Jr., Alabama
Justin Herbert, QB, Sr., Oregon
Lavert Hill, DB, Sr., Michigan
Kelvin Hopkins, QB, Sr., Army
Jalen Hurts, QB, Sr., Oklahoma
Jerry Jeudy, WR, Jr., Alabama
D'Eriq King, QB, Sr., Houston
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Soph., Clemson
Jordan Love, QB, Jr., Utah State
Adrian Martinez, QB, Soph., Nebraska
Kellen Mond, QB, Jr., Texas A&M
Rondale Moore, WR, Soph., Purdue
Dylan Moses, LB, Jr., Alabama
Zach Moss, RB, Sr., Utah
Jared Pinckney, TE, Sr., Vanderbilt
Jalen Reagor, WR, Jr., TCU
Nathan Rourke, QB, Sr., Ohio
Laviska Shenault, WR, Jr., Colorado
Nate Stanley, QB, Sr., Iowa
D'Andre Swift, RB, Jr., Georgia
Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Jr., Alabama
Jonathan Taylor, RB, Jr., Wisconsin
Xavier Thomas, DE, Soph., Clemson
Zac Thomas, QB, Jr., Appalachian State
Tylan Wallace, WR, Jr., Oklahoma State
Kenny Willekes, DL, Sr., Michigan State

The Walter Camp Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit http://www.ncfaa.org/ to learn more about the association.

Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (https://waltercamp.org/; @WalterCampFF) – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.

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Hopkins Added to Walter Camp Preseason Watch List

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