Big 12 leads the way with 8 QBs named to Davey O'Brien Award Watch List
The Davey O'Brien preseason watch list came out on Thursday and it was a 36-man class. The award is handed to the nation's top passer in college football, and out of the 36 QBs listed, the Big 12 Conference led the way with eight signal callers.
- Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
- Devon Dampier (Utah)
- Josh Hoover (TCU)
- Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
- Sam Leavitt (Arizona State)
- Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
- Sawyer Robertson (Baylor)
- Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
Sawyer Robertson earns more recognition
After starting the 2024 season as the backup to Dequan Finn, Robertson was inserted as the starting QB after Finn suffered an injury -- plus playing poorly. Robertson was arguably the top QB in the conference in the last six games of the year, in which Baylor won the final six games. Robertson would throw for 3,071 yards, 28 scores, and eight interceptions.
Now that he's back for another year, Robertson is gaining some early national recognition. On top of the Davey O'Brien Award watch list, Robertson is on other preseason lists.
-Maxwell Award Watch List
-Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
-Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 (Phil Steele)
-Preseason Second-Team All-Texas (DCTF)
-Preseason Third-Team All-Big 12 (Athlon, Pick Six Previews)
You can read the full press release below:
Baylor football quarterback Sawyer Robertson has been named to the 2025 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Preseason Watch List, as announced Thursday by the Davey O'Brien Foundation.
The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. Robertson is one of 36 quarterbacks nationwide named to this year's watch list. Additionally, he is one of eight Big 12 QBs on the list, a mark which leads all leagues.
Baylor's fifth-year signal caller, Robertson had a breakout 2024 campaign and led the Bears to eight wins, including six in a row to end the regular season. He threw for 3,071 yards with 28 TDs and just eight interceptions, completing 62.2 percent of his passes. He also rushed 63 times for 230 yards with four TDs. Robertson ranked among the tops in single-season program history in passing efficiency, passing yards, completions, completion percentages, TDs and TD:INT ratio. He had four 300+-yard passing games and threw for a career-high 445 yards with two scores vs. LSU in the Texas Bowl.
Inclusion on the Davey O'Brien Watch List marks Robertson's third watch list selection of the preseason, joining previous Maxwell Award and Wuerffel Trophy honors. He was also named a preseason All-Big 12 and All-Texas selection earlier this summer. Robertson returns the nation's best Total QBR with an 83.7 mark.
This year's list was compiled by a subset of the Davey O'Brien National Selection Committee based on previous Division I career player performance, as well as expectations heading into the 2025 season. The official Davey O'Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and will contain active quarterbacks from the preseason watch list, players honored as weekly Great 8 recipients through the year and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee.
The 35-player Davey O'Brien QB Class of 2025 will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 28. For the fifth-straight year, fan voting on social media will earn players bonus votes during the semifinalist, finalist and winner voting rounds.
The list of semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The 2025 Davey O'Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 11, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.
The 49th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
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