Baylor Football’s Josh Cameron Named a Semifinalist for Burlsworth Trophy
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Baylor football redshirt junior wide receiver and punt returner Josh Cameron has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy, as announced by the award on Tuesday.
The Burlsworth Trophy is given to the most outstanding college football player who began his career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field. Each nominee must have begun his first season of participation with an FBS football program without financial aid of any kind from his university’s athletic department.
After joining the Baylor football program as a preferred walk-on in 2021, Cameron has grown from scout-team standout to team captain and breakout star in 2024. He received a scholarship after his first full year with the team, worked his way up the depth chart at wide receiver and has since become one of the best punt returners in the country.
A native of Cedar Park, Texas, Cameron leads Baylor with 29 receptions, 424 receiving yards and seven touchdowns this year, the most by a Bear in a single season since Tyquan Thornton had 10 in 2021. Additionally, Cameron also ranks second in the country with 290 total punt return yards and a 20.7-yard average.
Cameron had standout performances in Week Five vs. BYU, in which he logged a career-high 125 receiving yards and two touchdowns, his first-career multi-TD game, and in Week Eight at Texas Tech, where he snagged three touchdowns as part of his six-catch, 75-yard output. Additionally, Cameron returned a punt 73 yards inside the Tech 1-yard line, setting up a Baylor touchdown just one play later.
For his efforts, Cameron was named an Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award honorable mention player of the week in Week Eight, as well as one of 15 players included on the Jet Award’s midseason watch list, which recognizes the nation’s most outstanding return specialist.
The Burlsworth Trophy selection committee will announce the top three finalists on Tuesday, Nov. 19. This year’s award recipient, along with the two other finalists, will be recognized at the Burlsworth Trophy Award Show on Dec. 9, at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark.
2024 Burlsworth Trophy Semifinalists
Baylor – Josh Cameron, WR
Buffalo – Shaun Dolac, LB
Indiana – James Carpenter, DL
Iowa – Kaden Wetjen, WR/RET
Oregon – Bryce Boettcher, LB
South Florida – Sean Atkins, WR
Tennessee – Will Brooks, S
Texas – Michael Taaffe, DB
UCLA – Carson Schwesinger, LB
UNLV – Jackson Woodard, LB