87th Maxwell Award Watch List (PDF)
PHILADELPHIA — The Maxwell Football Club announced Monday that Tennessee redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton III is one of 85 players named to its watch list for the 87th Maxwell Award, presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football.
The strong-armed signal caller from Pahokee, Florida, enters his sixth collegiate season and third at Tennessee in 2023. Serving as Tennessee’s backup quarterback last fall, Milton was thrust into action as the starter in the final two games of the 2022 campaign. He engineered the Tennessee offense to a 56-0 victory at Vanderbilt to close out the regular season before capping the year with an MVP performance in the Capital One Orange Bowl as the Vols took down No. 7 Clemson, 31-14.
Milton was marvelous in Miami Gardens, firing 19-of-28 passes for 251 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns to lead UT to its first New Year’s Six bowl victory during the College Football Playoff era (2014-present). The win punctuated Tennessee’s first 11-win season since 2001 and first win in the Orange Bowl since defeating Oklahoma in 1939.
The veteran quarterback has made 17 appearances for Tennessee with four starts over the past two seasons, and he finished the 2022 campaign completing 53-of-82 (.650) passes for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions. Of the 114 FBS quarterbacks to throw 10 or more touchdowns last year, Milton was the only one to have zero picks.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Nov. 13, 2023, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled Nov. 28, 2023. The winner of the 87th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 7, 2023. The formal presentation of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards in March 2024.
The Maxwell Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients since 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.
Sixteen NCFAA members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a two-week period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the remaining 2023 preseason watch list calendar:
Monday, July 31: Maxwell Award
Tuesday, Aug. 1: Outland Trophy/Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Wednesday, Aug. 2: Lou Groza Award/Ray Guy Award
Thursday, Aug. 3: Paul Hornung Award/Wuerffel Trophy
Friday, Aug. 4: Mackey Award/Rimington Trophy
Monday, Aug. 7: Biletnikoff Award
Tuesday, Aug. 8: Davey O’Brien Award
Wednesday, Aug. 9: Doak Walker Award
Thursday, Aug. 10: Butkus Award/Paycom Jim Thorpe Award
Friday, Aug. 11: Walter Camp Award
Monday, Aug. 14: Bednarik Award
2023 Tennessee Football Preseason Honors
Sr. DE Tyler Baron
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
Sr. LB Aaron Beasley
All-SEC Third Team (Athlon)
Sr. OL Cooper Mays
All-SEC Third Team (Media)
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
Sr. WR Bru McCoy
All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Media, Phil Steele)
Sr. QB Joe Milton III
Maxwell Award Watch List
All-SEC Third Team (Media, Phil Steele)
Sr. OL Javontez Spraggins
All-SEC Third Team (Media)
So. WR Squirrel White
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
Sr. RS Dee Williams
All-American Fourth Team (Phil Steele)
All-SEC Third Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
Jr. RB Jaylen Wright
All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
-UT Athletics
