The Manning Award watch list for 2018 includes four finalists from last season, with Auburn's Jarrett Stidham included among them.
Other finalists from last season on the preseason watch list released Thursday (Aug. 16) were Trace McSorley of Penn State, McKenzie Milton of Central Florida and Khalil Tate of Arizona.
The Manning Award, as presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl committee, is billed as the only postseason college football award that takes into account postseason play. Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma won the award last season, after Deshaun Watson of Clemson became the first two-time winner since the first trophy presentation after the 2004 season.
In addition to Stidham, the preseason watch list includes four other SEC quarterbacks in Jake Bentley of South Carolina, Nick Fitzgerald of Mississippi State, Drew Lock of Missouri and Kyle Shurmur of Vanderbilt.
Also on the list is Malik Rosier of Miami, the school LSU will face in the Sept. 2 opener at the Dallas Cowboys home stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The preseason watch list includes quarterbacks from all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences.
The last LSU quarterback to be on the preseason watch list was Jordan Jefferson in 2010, according to the Sugar Bowl committee. No Tulane quarterback has been on the watch list since at least before 2006, according to records.
The winner will be determined by a voting panel that includes Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning.
Midseason additions to the watch list will be announced Oct. 11. The list of 10 finalists will be released Nov. 29. The winner will be announced in the week after the College Football Playoff national championship.
Here is the full Manning Award preseason watch list for 2018:
- Jake Bentley, jr., South Carolina