Santos heads up 2007 Payton Award watch list

Aug 29, 2007, 22:53 GMT

Philadelphia, PA - Ricky Santos, the 2006 Walter Payton Award winner, heads up a stellar class of 16 candidates making up the first Payton Award watch list.

Santos, the senior quarterback from New Hampshire, is seeking to become the first player to repeat as a Payton winner. The only person to ever repeat, or win one of the major Football Championship Subdivision awards twice, is ex- Appalachian State linebacker Dexter Coakley.

Coakley, who went on to a 10-year NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams and was a three-time Pro Bowler, won the first two Buck Buchanan Awards as the top defensive player in 1995-96.

The Payton Award has been given since 1987. The 2007 Payton Award will be presented in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Dec. 13, the night before the FCS national championship game.

Joining Santos on the Payton watch list are three players who were finalists for the 2006 Payton Award, Furman fullback Jerome Felton, San Diego quarterback Josh Johnson and Appalachian State running back Kevin Richardson.

Delaware running back Omar Cuff, Montana running back Lex Hilliard and Northern Iowa quarterback Eric Sanders are three other players who have been apart of the Payton watch in past seasons that have returned in 2007. Both Cuff and Hilliard suffered through injury-plagues years in 2006.

Newcomers to the Payton watch are Tennessee-Martin running back Donald Chapman, Massachusetts quarterback Liam Coen, Western Illinois running back Herb Donaldson, Illinois State quarterback Luke Drone, Yale running back Mike McLeod, Towson quarterback Sean Schaefer, Coastal Carolina receiver Jerome Simpson, Northern Arizona receiver Alex Watson and McNeese State returnman and receiver Steven Whitehead.

Coen, Donaldson and McLeod are the lone juniors on the watch list. All 13 of the other players are seniors. Six quarterbacks, six running backs, three wide receivers and one fullback make up the watch list.

The new Colonial Athletic Association has four players on the Payton list, while the Gateway has three players. The Southern Conference and the Big Sky Conference have two each, while the Big South Conference, the Ivy League, the Ohio Valley Conference, the Pioneer Football League and the Southland Conference have one player each.

There will be updates and revisions in the Payton watch in October and November before a final ballot is settled on. Ballots will go out to voters in late November, with voting taking place immediately after the regular season. Over 100 voters, representing sports writers, broadcasters, sports information directors and other college football experts will decide on the Payton, Buchanan and Eddie Robinson awards.

2007 Walter Payton Award Watch List: Donald Chapman, Senior, Running Back, Tennessee-Martin; Liam Coen, Junior, Quarterback, Massachusetts; Omar Cuff, Senior, Running Back, Delaware; Herb Donaldson, Junior, Running Back, Western Illinois; Luke Drone, Senior, Quarterback, Illinois State; Jerome Felton, Senior, Fullback, Furman; Lex Hilliard, Senior, Running Back, Montana; Josh Johnson, Senior, Quarterback, San Diego; Mike McLeod, Junior, Running Back, Yale; Kevin Richardson, Senior, Running Back, Appalachian State; Eric Sanders, Senior, Quarterback, Northern Iowa; Ricky Santos, Senior, Quarterback, New Hampshire; Sean Schaefer, Junior, Quarterback, Towson; Jerome Simpson, Senior, Wide Receiver, Coastal Carolina; Alex Watson, Senior, Wide Receiver, Northern Arizona; Steven Whitehead, Senior, Kick Returner/Wide Receiver, McNeese State.

© 2007 The Sports Network