Watson Finalist for Walter Camp Award
By: will-vandervort December 2, 2015

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson is one of five finalist for the Walter Camp Football Foundation 2015 Player of the Year award.

Running backs Derrick Henry (Alabama) and Christian McCaffrey (Stanford) join Watson along with quarterback Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma) and Iowa defensive back Desmond King.

The leader of the top-ranked Tigers’ offense, Watson has accumulated 3,979 yards of total offense and 36 total touchdowns, both of which rank first in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC Player of Year’s 161.9 passing efficiency rating also leads the ACC.

Clemson (12-0) will play North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday.

The 2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, who is voted on by the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced on Thursday, December 10 during the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN SportsCenter.

The winner will receive his trophy at the Foundation’s annual national awards banquet on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

Former University of Oregon and current Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota won the award last year.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side.  The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and continue the tradition of selecting an annual All-America team.

The Walter Camp Football Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients.