Matt Ryan (#12) the 2008 Manning Award Winner
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl to honor the accomplishments of three great college quarterbacks: Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that factors in the candidates’ bowl performance before making a final determination.
This year’s watch list includes 38 of the nations top QBs; however, this award is open to any QB in the nation. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a February banquet in New Orleans.
If you don’t recall, the first four winners of the Manning Award have had great success. USC’s Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas’ Vince Young in 2006-both were top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU’s JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick. Boston College’s Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3. The recipient of this year’s award will more than likely end up a top 10 pick.
2009 Manning Award Watch List:
Austen Arnaud (Jr., Iowa State)
Sam Bradford (Jr., Oklahoma)
Levi Brown (Sr., Troy)
Darryll Clark (Sr., Penn State)
Jimmy Clausen (Jr., Notre Dame)
Andy Dalton (Sr., TCU)
Austin Davis (So., Southern Miss)
Armanti Edwards (Sr., Appalachian State)
Robert Griffin III (So., Baylor)
Matt Grothe (Sr., USF)
Max Hall (Sr., BYU)
Tim Hiller (Sr., Western Michigan)
Jerrod Johnson (Jr., Texas A&M)
Colin Kaepernick (Jr., Nevada)
Case Keenum (Jr., Houston)
Dan LeFevour (Sr., Central Michigan)
Corey Leonard (Sr., Arkansas State)
Thaddeus Lewis (Sr., Duke)
Ryan Lindley (So., San Diego State)
Jake Locker (Jr., Washington)
Jeremiah Masoli (Jr., Oregon)
Colt McCoy (Sr., Texas)
Kellen Moore (So., Boise State)
Tony Pike (Sr., Cincinnati)
Terrelle Prior (So., Ohio State)
Todd Reesing (Sr., Kansas)
Zac Robinson (Sr., Oklahoma State)
Tyler Sheehan (Sr., Bowling Green)
Riley Skinner (Sr., Wake Forest)
Rusty Smith (Sr., Florida Atlantic)
Jevan Snead (Jr., Ole Miss)
Ricky Stanzi (Jr., Iowa)
Tim Tebow (Sr., Florida)
Trevor Vittatoe (Jr., UTEP)
Adam Weber (Jr., Minnesota)
Juice Williams (Sr., Illinois)
Russell Wilson (So., N.C. State)
T.J. Yates (Jr., North Carolina)
