Duck Feed: Latest Watch List-ers

Latest Watch List-ers
Monday, July 18, 4:15 p.m. PT

After doing a decent job of staying on top of Oregon's watch list candidates earlier in the month, I opted to go on vacation last week while the press releases continued to roll in from various major college football awards. As a result, it's time to play catch-up, and while realizing that hardcore fans will have already gleaned this information from other sources, I need to make a record of it so that next year at this time I can search the GoDucks.com archive to confirm that UO really didn't have a single wide receiver among the 75 on the preseason watch list for the 2011 Biletnikoff Award.

However, Ducks did land on seven of the lists announced over the past week...

Reigning Doak Walker Award winner LaMichael James made that award's watch list as one of seven Pac-12 running backs and 52 overall. The junior was also named to the 40-man watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, an honor he was a finalist for in 2010.

James and Darron Thomas make up two of the six Pac-12 players on the Walter Camp list, while Thomas also saw his name put on the watch list for the Davey O'Brien (quarterback) Award last week. The junior QB is one of 38 players - five from the Pac-12 - on the O'Brien radar.

Josh Kaddu made the watch list for the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation's top linebacker. A true senior, Kaddu is one of only five conference players currently on the 53-man list. Fellow defender John Boyett is in even rarer company as one of just four Pac-12 players among 37 on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list, recognizing college football's top defensive back.

John Boyett takes down USC's Marc Tyler during UO's road win in 2010.

The Lombardi Award, which goes annually to the top interior lineman in the nation, pegged Carson York for its 125-man watch list. The junior is one of 13 Pac-12 linemen under consideration.

Rob Beard made the Lou Groza Award watch list, recognizing the top place-kicker in college football. A junior, Beard is one of three conference kickers among 30 overall.

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