Thirty-seven college football players have been named to the watch list for this year's Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award, and four of them play for Ohio State.
Redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud, true freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson, true freshman cornerback Denzel Burke and true freshman defensive tackle Tyleik Williams were all named to the award’s watch list on Tuesday, making Ohio State the only school with four candidates for the award, which honors the most outstanding freshman player in college football.
Stroud, who was also named Tuesday as a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and has been named as a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, makes the watch list after completing 67 percent of his passes for 2,675 yards and 25 touchdowns with only five interceptions in his eight games as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. He currently ranks fifth nationally in passer rating (175.9), sixth in yards per passing attempt (9.8) and passing yards per game (334.4) and tied for seventh in passing touchdowns, and he’s already a five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Henderson, who has started all of Ohio State’s last seven games at running back, has rushed for 937 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 128 carries in his first nine games as a Buckeye. He ranks 12th nationally in both rushing yards and rushing touchdown and has the third-most yards per carry (7.32) among running backs with at least 100 carries this season.
Burke has started all of Ohio State’s first nine games at cornerback and has emerged as the Buckeyes’ top player at the position. He’s recorded seven pass breakups and one interception, which he returned for a 23-yard touchdown, while holding opponents to 17 catches for 164 yards and zero touchdowns on 39 targets according to Pro Football Focus.
Williams hasn’t yet started a game for the Buckeyes but has been a difference-maker in the defensive tackle rotation off the bench. He ranks second on the team in both sacks (4.5) and tackles for loss (5.5), behind only Haskell Garrett in both categories, and currently has the highest PFF grade of any defender on the roster.
Texas A&M is the only other school with three freshmen on the watch list (offensive linemen Bryce Foster and Reuben Fatheree and cornerback Tyreek Chappell) while six other schools (Clemson, Georgia, Iowa, LSU, Miami and Oklahoma) have two freshmen on the list.
