Pair of Canes Named to Walter Camp Watch List
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — A pair of Miami Hurricanes were selected to the 50-man watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced Friday.
Senior defensive back Jaquan Johnson and junior wide receiver Ahmmon Richards both picked up another major preseason accolade with their selection; Miami was one of just five schools to have more than one student-athlete selected to the watch list.
One of the best safeties in America a season ago, Johnson decided to return for his senior season after being named a Second-Team All-America by Sports Illustrated and the AFCA in 2017. He led the Hurricanes with 96 total tackles a season ago, and also tied for the team lead with four interceptions. A Walter Camp Player of the Year semifinalist and a three-time ACC Defensive Back of the week honoree, Johnson has totaled 160 tackles, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and six interceptions in 39 career games – he has not missed a game since arriving to Coral Gables in January 2015.
A consensus Freshman All-America and an All-ACC selection two seasons ago, Richards was a dominant force in 2016 when he set the Miami freshman record for receiving yards – besting the mark set by Hurricanes legend Michael Irvin. Richards saw action in just eight games in an injury-riddled 2017, but still managed 439 receiving yards and three touchdowns. In just 21 career games, Richards has totaled 73 receptions, 1,373 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.
Johnson was also selected to the watch lists for three other awards: the Thorpe Award, honoring the nation’s best defensive back, the Bednarik Award, honoring the nation’s top defensive player and the Nagurski Award as college football’s defensive player of the year. Richards was selected to two other watch lists: the Maxwell Award, honoring college football’s player of the year, and the Biletnikoff Award, honoring the nation’s best wide receiver.
The duo joins senior Tyler Gauthier, who was named to the watch list for the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and Rimington Trophy (best center), junior Travis Homer, who was named to the watch list for both the Maxwell Award and the Doak Walker Award (top running back), senior defensive lineman Demetrius Jackson (Wuerffel Trophy as college football’s “man of the year”), senior defensive back Michael Jackson (Thorpe Award, Nagurski Award) and junior linebacker Shaq Quarterman (Bednarik, Nagurski, Butkus Award as nation’s top linebacker).
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 – 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 college football’s most prestigious awards. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 23 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story. The members of the NCFAA unveiled their preseason watch lists over a 10-day period (July 16-27). Sixteen of the association’s 23 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates.
