The Walter Camp Football Foundation announced on Friday morning its 40 “players to watch” for the 2017 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.  University of Wyoming junior quarterback Josh Allen was one of those select few players named to the list.  The complete 2017 Walter Camp Watch List may be found at www.waltercamp.org.

Allen helped lead the Wyoming Cowboys to the 2016 Mountain West Conference Mountain Division title and a berth in the MW Championship Game hosted by the University of Wyoming.  The Cowboys went on to appear in the 2016 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  

As a sophomore in 2016, Allen ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West and No. 6 nationally in passing yards per completion (15.33 yards).  He also led the MW and was No. 16 in the country in points responsible for (218).  Allen threw 28 touchdown passes in 2016, placing him No. 1 in the conference and No. 20 in the NCAA.  He was second in the MW and 32nd in the nation in passing yards (3,203).  Allen was also No. 2 in the conference and No. 40 in the nation in total offense (266.1 yards per game).

The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in mid-November.  The 2017 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 on Thursday, December 7.  The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s 51st annual national awards banquet on January 13, 2018 in New Haven, Conn.

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 (www.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.

The Walter Camp Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 23 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935.  Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story.  The members of the NCFAA unveiled their preseason watch lists over a two-week period (July 9-21). Sixteen of the association’s 23 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates.

This is the third preseason honor for Allen this year.  He was also named to the Maxwell Award Watch List and the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List.