July 17, 2015
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Justin Thomas’s name has been added to another preseason watch list. Georgia Tech’s redshirt junior quarterback was one of 50 players Friday named to the 2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List.
Thomas has already been named to the watch lists for both the Maxwell Award (top college football player) and the Davey O’Brien Award (top quarterback).
In all, 37 schools are represented on the list with defending national champion Ohio State having five players, including its three quarterbacks. 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).
As one of Tech’s three captains in 2014, the Prattville, Ala., native started all 14 games under center for the Yellow Jackets, leading them to an 11-3 record and the 2014 Capital One Orange Bowl title. The Orange Bowl MVP was named second-team All-ACC by the league’s head coaches and third-team by the media. In 2014, he rushed 190 times for a team- and career-best 1,086 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and eight TDs. He completed 96-of-187 passes (.513) for 1,719 yards and 18 touchdowns.
The Walter Camp watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in mid-November. The 2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 128 NCAA FBS head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live December 10 on ESPN SportsCenter. 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. 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-American team.
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.
Georgia Tech opens the 2015 season Sept. 3 against Alcorn State (7:30 p.m. ET, RSN). 2015 Georgia Tech season tickets are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets in person at the Georgia Tech Ticket Office (M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m.), by phone at 888-TECH-TIX, or online at togetherweswarm.com. Season tickets for Tech’s seven-game home schedule start at just $245 – a value of $35 per game. Great lower-level seats are available from $350. There is no per-game ticket or Tech Fund price increase in 2015. The only difference is the addition of a seventh home game (Georgia).
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GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS PRESEASON HONORS
Trey Braun, OL
Preseason All-ACC, third team (Athlon)
Preseason All-ACC, fourth team (Phil Steele)
Freddie Burden, C
Rimington Trophy Watch List
Preseason All-ACC, second team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
Bryan Chamberlain, OL
Preseason All-ACC, second team (Athlon)
Preseason All-ACC, third team (Phil Steele)
P.J. Davis, LB
Preseason All-ACC, second team (Athlon)
Preseason All-ACC, third team (Phil Steele)
KeShun Freeman, DE
Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
Preseason All-ACC, third team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
Jamal Golden, DB/KR
Paul Hornung Award Watch List
Preseason All-ACC, second team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
Adam Gotsis, DT
Bednarik Award Watch List
Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Outland Trophy Watch List
Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List
Preseason All-ACC, first team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
Jabari Hunt-Days, DL
Preseason All-ACC, second team (Phil Steele)
Paul Johnson
Dodd Trophy Watch List
Justin Thomas, QB
Davey O’Brien Award Watch List
Maxwell Award Watch List
Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List
Preseason All-ACC, first team (Phil Steele)
Preseason All-ACC, third team (Athlon)
D.J. White, DB
Allstate AFCA Good Works Team
Preseason All-ACC, third team (Athlon)
