Rimington Trophy Releases 2007 Spring Watch List

Awarded to nation's best center

May 2, 2007

Courtesy The Sports Group

DALLAS -The 2007 Rimington Trophy Spring Watch List makes its debut today, marking the eighth year of recognizing the most outstanding Center in college football.

A total of 46 players are named to the list, making it easily the largest Rimington Trophy Watch List to date. While 11 players make their return from the 2006 campaign, 35 new Centers will be vying for the trophy this year. Twenty-three of those Centers are seniors, 18 are juniors, while five are sophomores.

The Southeastern Conference leads the way with eight nominees on the list. The Western Athletic Conference and PAC-10 Conference follow with six nominees each.

"With only one returning finalist (Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas) from last season the competition will be wide open which will certainly make for an exciting race. Center is a very difficult position to evaluate and of course play so I wish all of the candidates and their respective teams a successful season", said Dave Rimington.

Dan Mozes (West Virginia), the 2006 Rimington Trophy winner, was recently signed to a contract by the Minnesota Vikings. In all, five players from the 2006 campaign were selected in the 2006 NFL Draft, including 2006 Rimington finalist Ryan Kalil, who was a 2nd Round pick of the Carolina Panthers.

The eight year old trophy is presented by Canon, Cornhusker Marriott, and Logitech. The award is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. West Virginia's Dan Mozes, Minnesota's Greg Eslinger, Michigan's David Baas (2004 co-winner), LSU's Ben Wilkerson (2004 co-winner), Virginia Tech's Jake Grove, Miami's Brett Romberg, Ohio State's LeCharles Bentley, and Nebraska's Dominic Raiola are past recipients. Esiason created his foundation in 1993 to support research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87. Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first team All- America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982 during which he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's premiere college interior lineman.

The winner is selected by determining the consensus All-America Center pick from four existing All- America Teams:

American Football Coaches Association

Walter Camp Foundation

Sporting News

Football Writers Association of America

Because the selectors of these four All-America teams can place Centers in a "mix" of offensive linemen that includes guards and tackles, their 11- man first teams can often have two Centers. Our policy is to count all players that play primarily the Center position for their respective teams as Centers, even though they maybe listed as guards or tackles on the four All-America teams.

The Center with the most first team votes will be determined the winner. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the Center with most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by the Rimington Trophy committee.

The winner will be honored at an awards banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska in January of 2008.

2007 Rimington Trophy Watch List

Kenny Alfred Washington State Sophomore 6'2" 293 lbs.

Sete Aulai BYU Senior 6'0"  290 lbs.

Royce Blackledge Mississippi State Senior 6'4"  293 lbs.

Tim Bond Wyoming Junior 6'4"  296 lbs.

Jason Bosley Auburn Junior 6'2"  280 lbs.

Brett Byford Nebraska Senior 6'3"  300 lbs.

Antoine Caldwell Alabama Junior 6'3"  288 lbs.

Jim Cordle Ohio State Sophomore 6'5"  275 lbs.

Mike Dent West Virginia Junior 6'4"  285 lbs.

Kyle DeVan Oregon State Senior 6'2"  310 lbs.

Rafael Eubanks Iowa Sophomore 6'3"  288 lbs.

Robby Felix UTEP Junior 6'3" 295 lbs.

Dominic Green Nevada Junior 6'3"  295 lbs

Blaine Guenther Air Force  Senior 6'2"  270 lbs.

Kyle Gunther Utah Senior 6'4"  304 lbs.

Antron Harper Navy Senior 5'11"  272 lbs.

Brett Helms LSU Junior 6'2"  283 lbs.

Chris Joseph UCLA Senior 6'5"  282 lbs.

Steve Justice Wake Forest Senior 6'4" 280 lbs.

Adam Korby Idaho Junior 6'2"  292 lbs.

Robbie Krutilla Western Michigan Senior 6'3"  308 lbs.

Doug Legursky Marshall Senior 6'3"  308 lbs.

Scott Lenahan North Carolina Senior 6'1"  290 lbs.

Kory Lichtensteiger Bowling Green Senior 6'3" 300 lbs.

Jonathan Luigs Arkansas Junior 6'4"  305 lbs.

Alex Mack California Junior 6'5"  295 lbs.

Tim Mattran Stanford Senior 6'5" 300 lbs.

Ryan McDonald Illinois Junior 6'5"  300 lbs.

Josh McNeil Tennessee Sophomore 6'4"  280 lbs.

Drew Miller Florida Senior 6'5"  297 lbs.

Trey Miranne Army Senior 6'0"  273 lbs.

Justin Paysinger San Jose State Junior 6'1"  295 lbs.

Mike Pollak Arizona State Senior 6'4"  300 lbs.

Daniel Sanders Colorado  Junior 6'3"  305 lbs.

Blake Schlueter Texas Christian Junior 6'3"  272 lbs.

Kevin Sheridan Boston College  Senior 6'3"  295 lbs.

A.Q. Shipley Penn State Junior 6'1"  293 lbs.

Adam Spieker Missouri Junior 6'4"  310 lbs.

John Sullivan Notre Dame Senior 6'4"  290 lbs.

Ryan Tonnemacher Utah State Junior 6'3"  272 lbs.

Lafu Tuioti-Mariner Hawaii Junior 6'0" 279 lbs.

Kevin Tuminello Georgia Tech Senior 6'4" 290 lbs.

Cody Wallace Texas A&M Senior 6'4" 296 lbs.

Ryan Wendell Fresno State Senior 6'2" 285 lbs.

Austin Wilkinson Rice Junior 6'2" 270 lbs.

Eric Wood Louisville Junior 6'4" 301 lbs.

Ben Wyss Indiana Senior 6'1" 280 lbs.