PHILADELPHIA - Sun Devil Football quarterback Manny Wilkins and wide receiver N'Keal Harry have been tabbed by The Maxwell Football Club and its 82nd Maxwell Award preseason watch list, announced Monday morning.
The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, has been given to America's College Player of the Year since 1937. Maxwell's contributions to the game of football were extensive, including time as a player, a sportswriter and an official.
Wilkins, a Novato, Calif., native enters his third season as the Sun Devil's starting quarterback with a lot of momentum following a productive 2017 campaign that saw the senior complete 260-of-410 (63.4%) passes for 3,270 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Starting all 13 games under center for the Sun Devils in 2017, Wilkins recorded four 300-yard and nine 200-yard performances that included 282 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Wilkins' arm was equally as impressive as he was able to throw for over 3,000-passing yards, marking just the ninth time in the history of Sun Devil Football a player was able to accomplish the feat. His 3,270 passing yards on the season were good for fifth in ASU single season history and are the ninth-highest among returning quarterbacks in 2018.
He was sixth nationally with a 122.3 NFL quarterback rating on deep passes last season, according to Pro Football Focus and completed a Pac-12-leading 14 passes of 40 or more yards.Wilkins posted a 72.4 adjusted completion percentage according to PFF, fourth among returning Pac-12 quarterbacks and 34thnationally last season.
Wilkins has 5,599 passing yards in his career, good for 10th among all quarterbacks in ASU history. His 12 career rushing touchdowns are fourth among quarterbacks in ASU history behind Mark Malone (21), Danny White (14) and Taylor Kelly (13).
Harry, a first-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2017, returns for his junior season looking to build on a stellar sophomore campaign in which he racked up 82 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. The 82 catches were good for a tie for third in ASU single-season history with Jaelen Strong (2014). Only Shaun McDonald (87, 2002) and Derek Hagan (83, 2004) rank ahead of him. The 1,142 yards receiving were seventh in ASU single season history.
He averaged over 87 yards receiving per game and nearly 14 yards per catch in 2017. His 87 yards per game were the best in the Pac-12, and he finished second in the conference in receptions and yards. According to PFF, Harry averaged a 107.0 QB rating when he was targeted, over 16 points higher than the NCAA average. He is the third-highest graded returning Division I receiver in the country by PFF, but first among Power Five programs and first among all juniors (or younger).
Harry led ASU in receiving in eight of the 13 games last season, including three games of 140+ yards. He also showed his versatility and play-making ability throughout the season, rushing 13 times for 65 yards and also throwing one pass for 14 yards and a touchdown on the season. He was targeted 120 times last season, second among all Pac-12 receivers, but had just four drops on the year - the lowest drop rate of top returning receivers in the nation.
Harry has a reception in all 25 games of his career at Arizona State, the eighth-longest active streak of games for any returning player in the NCAA. His 140 career receptions are already tied for 10th in Sun Devil school history and he is already within 300 yards of cracking ASU's all-time Top-10 in career receiving yards.
The Maxwell watch list includes student athletes from a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast. Harry and Wilkins are joined by a handful of fellow Pac-12 contenders including Kahlil Tate (Arizona), Patrick Laird (Cal), Steven Montez (Colo), Justin Herbert (Ore.), KJ Costello (Stan), Bryce Love (Stan), Stephen Car (USC) and Zack Moss (Utah).
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced October 29, 2018, while the three finalists for each award will be unveiled November 19, 2018. The winner of the 2018 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 6, 2018. The formal presentations of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 8, 2019.
The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, has been given to America's College Player of the Year since 1937. Maxwell's contributions to the game of football were extensive, including time as a player, a sportswriter and an official.
Wilkins, a Novato, Calif., native enters his third season as the Sun Devil's starting quarterback with a lot of momentum following a productive 2017 campaign that saw the senior complete 260-of-410 (63.4%) passes for 3,270 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Starting all 13 games under center for the Sun Devils in 2017, Wilkins recorded four 300-yard and nine 200-yard performances that included 282 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Wilkins' arm was equally as impressive as he was able to throw for over 3,000-passing yards, marking just the ninth time in the history of Sun Devil Football a player was able to accomplish the feat. His 3,270 passing yards on the season were good for fifth in ASU single season history and are the ninth-highest among returning quarterbacks in 2018.
He was sixth nationally with a 122.3 NFL quarterback rating on deep passes last season, according to Pro Football Focus and completed a Pac-12-leading 14 passes of 40 or more yards.Wilkins posted a 72.4 adjusted completion percentage according to PFF, fourth among returning Pac-12 quarterbacks and 34thnationally last season.
Wilkins has 5,599 passing yards in his career, good for 10th among all quarterbacks in ASU history. His 12 career rushing touchdowns are fourth among quarterbacks in ASU history behind Mark Malone (21), Danny White (14) and Taylor Kelly (13).
Harry, a first-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2017, returns for his junior season looking to build on a stellar sophomore campaign in which he racked up 82 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. The 82 catches were good for a tie for third in ASU single-season history with Jaelen Strong (2014). Only Shaun McDonald (87, 2002) and Derek Hagan (83, 2004) rank ahead of him. The 1,142 yards receiving were seventh in ASU single season history.
He averaged over 87 yards receiving per game and nearly 14 yards per catch in 2017. His 87 yards per game were the best in the Pac-12, and he finished second in the conference in receptions and yards. According to PFF, Harry averaged a 107.0 QB rating when he was targeted, over 16 points higher than the NCAA average. He is the third-highest graded returning Division I receiver in the country by PFF, but first among Power Five programs and first among all juniors (or younger).
Harry led ASU in receiving in eight of the 13 games last season, including three games of 140+ yards. He also showed his versatility and play-making ability throughout the season, rushing 13 times for 65 yards and also throwing one pass for 14 yards and a touchdown on the season. He was targeted 120 times last season, second among all Pac-12 receivers, but had just four drops on the year - the lowest drop rate of top returning receivers in the nation.
Harry has a reception in all 25 games of his career at Arizona State, the eighth-longest active streak of games for any returning player in the NCAA. His 140 career receptions are already tied for 10th in Sun Devil school history and he is already within 300 yards of cracking ASU's all-time Top-10 in career receiving yards.
The Maxwell watch list includes student athletes from a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast. Harry and Wilkins are joined by a handful of fellow Pac-12 contenders including Kahlil Tate (Arizona), Patrick Laird (Cal), Steven Montez (Colo), Justin Herbert (Ore.), KJ Costello (Stan), Bryce Love (Stan), Stephen Car (USC) and Zack Moss (Utah).
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced October 29, 2018, while the three finalists for each award will be unveiled November 19, 2018. The winner of the 2018 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 6, 2018. The formal presentations of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 8, 2019.