Pitt senior quarterback Kenny Pickett and Penn State running back Journey Brown and linebacker Micah Parsons were named Friday to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, presented annually to the best all-around player in college football.
Pickett will be a three-year starter this season, but he also started one game as a freshman in 2017, leading an upset of No. 2 Miami in the season finale at Heinz Field.
Pickett set school records last season in pass attempts (469) and completions (289). He became only the fifth Pitt quarterback to surpass 3,000 yards (3,098) in a season.
He also was the first Pitt quarterback since Tyler Palko in 2004 to throw for 300 yards in five games in the same season, including a career-high 372 against Penn State.
Seven Penn State players have won the Maxwell. The list includes Richie Lucas (1959), Glenn Ressler (1964), Mike Reid (1969), John Cappellitti (1973), Chuck Fusina (1978), Kerry Collins (1994) and Larry Johnson (2002).
Pitt’s Tony Dorsett and (1976) and Hugh Green (1980) also won the Maxwell.
Brown earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors last season while averaging 6.9 yards per carry. He set a Penn State bowl record by rushing for 202 yards in a Cotton Bowl victory against Memphis. He is also on the Doak Walker watch list.
Parsons, a consensus All-American last season, also has been named to the Bednarik, Butkus, Lott IMPACT and Nagurski watch lists. He was the first sophomore to win the Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year Award.
Pickett is the sixth Pitt player named to preseason watch lists, joining Steel Valley’s Paris Ford (Bednarik, Nagurski and Thorpe), Patrick Jones II (Bednarik, Nagurski, Wuerffel and Lott IMPACT), Lucas Krull (Mackey), Jimmy Morrissey (Outland and Campbell) and Jaylen Twyman (Bednarik, Nagurski and Outland).
Other Penn State players on watch lists include Pat Freiermuth (Biletnikoff and Mackey), Noah Cain (Doak Walker), Jake Pinegar (Lou Groza), Shaka Toney (Nagurski), Sean Clifford (O’Brien and Wuerffel) and Clairton’s Lamont Wade (Thorpe).
