Baylor Football Duo Lands on Maxwell Award Watch List

PHILADELPHIA – Baylor football quarterback Sawyer Robertson and running back Bryson Washington have been named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, as announced Monday by the Maxwell Football Club.

The duo are two of 80 candidates named to the award’s preseason watch list, which is presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Baylor is one of 17 schools with multiple nominees named to the list, including one of three Big 12 programs alongside Arizona State and Kansas State.

Robertson, a fifth-year senior signal caller, had a breakout 2024 campaign and led the Bears to eight wins, including six in a row to end the regular season. He threw for 3,071 yards with 28 TDs and just eight interceptions, completing 62.2 percent of his passes. He also rushed 63 times for 230 yards with four TDs. Robertson ranked among the tops in single-season program history in passing efficiency, passing yards, completions, completion percentages, TDs and TD:INT ratio. He had four 300+-yard passing games and threw for a career-high 445 yards with two scores vs. LSU in the Texas Bowl.

Already a preseason All-Big 12 and All-Texas honoree, Robertson is one of 47 quarterbacks nationally named to the Maxwell Award watch list. He joins eight other QBs representing the Big 12 on this year’s preseason list.

Washington, a 6-0, 203-pound running back out of Franklin, Texas, rolled to Freshman All-America status in 2024 after shattering the program’s freshman rushing record. Though he played in just 11 games, the rookie ran for 1,028 yards with 12 TDs and logged six 100+-yard performances, the most by any freshman in program history. Washington also caught 22 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown last year. His standout games included 10 carries for 116 yards and two scores in a beatdown of Texas Tech in Lubbock, four TDs and 218 all-purpose yards in a win over TCU, 18 rushes for 123 yards and four total TDs at West Virginia and 28 totes for 192 yards and two scores vs. Kansas.

Also a preseason All-Big 12 and All-Texas selection, Washington was named a preseason third-team All-American earlier this summer by Athlon Sports. He is one of four running backs from the Big 12, and one of 26 ball carriers nationally, named to this year’s Maxwell Award watch list.

The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert “Tiny” Maxwell, a former standout at Swarthmore College and a renowned sportswriter and football official. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 11, while the three finalists will be unveiled on Nov. 25. 

The winner of the 89th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 11. The formal presentation of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on March 13, 2026, in Atlanta, Ga.