Marshall University Athletics
Johnson Named to Third Preseason Watch List
7/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Marshall running back Devon Johnson was named to the Walter Camp Player of the Year Preseason Watch List Friday by the Walter Camp Foundation. The honor is his third preseason honor after earning similar acclaim from the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards.
In all, 37 schools are represented on the list. There are 37 offensive players (22 quarterbacks, 11 running backs and four receivers) and 13 from the defensive side of the ball (5 linebackers, 5 defensive backs and 3 defensive linemen).
“We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation,” Foundation president Robert Kauffman said. “This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football.”
The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November. The 2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 128 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 10. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on January 16, 2016 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
Please note: Appearing on the preseason Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Walter Camp award or be named to the All-America team.
Johnson, a senior from Richlands, Va., was moved to running back in August camp prior to last season by Coach Doc Holliday and his staff after Johnson had previous stints at linebacker and tight end. Despite missing one game and significant portions of others, Johnson gave Marshall a new balance on offense with his bullish rushing.
Johnson – nicknamed “Rockhead” by Herd players and coaches -- was moved from tight end primarily to provide protection in the passing game. By season’s end of a Conference USA championship year for the No. 22/23 Herd (13-1), Johnson had 10 games of 100 or more rushing yards, including a school-record 272 yards in an Oct. 25 victory over Florida Atlantic.
He also had games of 198 yards at Old Dominion and 199 yards against Rice. Forty-eight of his 206 rushes were for 10 or more yards, and he had 14 carries of 30 or more yards. Johnson’s longest run was a 75-yarder in a crucial late-season victory at UAB. He also had six pass receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns – and didn’t allow a sack in picking up blitzes.
His 8.58 yards per carry topped all FBS running backs who carried more than 150 times during the season. Johnson ranked fifth nationally with 135.9 yards per game, and ran for 17 touchdowns, including a season-high four TDs in the win over FAU. Johnson’s 1,767 rushing yards ranks No. 2 in Herd history for a single season (Chris Parker, 1,833 in 1995) and is the school mark in Marshall’s major-college seasons.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation (www.waltercamp.org; @WalterCampFF) – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
The Walter Camp Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast over 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.
The members of the NCFAA unveiled their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Sixteen of the association’s 22 awards selected a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates.
Johnson and the Herd will open the 2015 season on Sunday, Sept. 6 (Labor Day weekend) at 3 p.m. against Purdue at Joan C. Edwards Stadium (FS1 telecast). The Boilermakers will be the first Big Ten Conference football team to visit Huntington.
2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year Preseason Watch List
Dante Barrett, Senior, S, Kansas State
J.T. Barrett, Sophomore, QB, Ohio State
Devontae Booker, Senior, RB, Utah
Joey Bosa, Junior, DE, Ohio State*
Trevone Boykin, Senior, QB, TCU #
Shilique Calhoun, Senior, DE, Michigan State#
Jeremy Cash, Senior, DB, Duke #
Nick Chubb, Sophomore, RB, Georgia
James Conner, Junior, RB, Pittsburgh #
Connor Cook, Senior, QB, Michigan State
Su’a Cravens, Junior, LB, USC
Brandon Doughty, Senior, QB, Western Kentucky
DeVon Edwards, Junior, DB/KR, Duke $
Ezekiel Elliott, Junior, RB, Ohio State
Kenneth Farrow, Senior, RB, Houston
Leonard Fournette, Sophomore, RB, LSU
Jarvion Franklin, Sophomore, RB, Western Michigan
Royce Freeman, Sophomore, RB, Oregon
Kendall Fuller, Junior, DB, Virginia Tech #
Will Fuller, Junior, WR, Notre Dame
Jared Goff, Junior, QB, California
Everett Golson, Senior, QB, Florida State
Christian Hackenberg, Junior, QB, Penn State
Vernon Hargreaves III, Junior, LB, Florida #
Derrick Henry, Junior, RB, Alabama
Rashard Higgins, Junior, WR, Colorado State*
Taysom Hill, Senior, QB, BYU
Kevin Hogan, Senior, QB, Stanford
Myles Jack, Junior, RB/LB, UCLA
Devon Johnson, Senior, RB, Marshall
Cardale Jones, Junior, QB, Ohio State
Cody Kessler, Senior, QB, USC
Gunner Kiel, Junior, QB, Cincinnati
Paxton Lynch, Junior, QB, Memphis
Blake Martinez, Senior, LB, Stanford
Elijah McGuire, Junior, RB, Louisiana
Braxton Miller, Senior, QB, Ohio State
Shaun Oakman, Senior, DE, Baylor
Samaje Perine, Sophomore, RB, Oklahoma
Paul Perkins, Junior, RB, UCLA
Dak Prescott, Senior, QB, Mississippi State
Keenan Reynolds, Senior, QB, Navy
Anu Solomon, Sophomore, QB, Arizona
Justin Thomas, Junior, QB, Georgia Tech
Darian Thompson, Senior, DB, Boise State
Laquon Treadwell, Junior, WR, Ole Miss
Deshaun Watson, Sophomore, QB, Clemson
Duke Williams, Senior, WR, Auburn
Scooby Wright III, Junior, LB, Arizona*
Malik Zaire, Sophomore, QB, Notre Dame
* – 2014 Walter Camp First Team All-American
# – 2014 Walter Camp Second Team All-American
$ – 2013 Walter Camp Second Team All-American
