Rimington Trophy

The Watchlist

CONFERENCE SCHOOL FIRST NAME LAST NAME CLASS

AAC

       
  Army Brady Small JR
  Tulane Jack Hollifield R-SR
         
ACC        
  Florida St. Luke Petitbon RS-SR
  Virginia Brady Wilson GRAD
  North Carolina Austin Blaske R-SR
  Miami FL James Brockermeyer R-SR
  Pittsburgh Lyndon Cooper R-SR
  Louisville Pete Nygra R-JR
  SMU Addison Nichols R-JR
  Clemson Ryan Linthicum GRAD
  Duke Matt Craycraft R-JR
BIG 10        
  Oregon Iapani Laloulu JR
  Iowa Logan Jones GRAD
  Indiana Pat Coogan R-SR
  Michigan St. Matt Gulbin R-SR
  Rutgers Gus Zilinskas SR
  Wisconsin Jake Renfro GRAD
  Ohio State Carson Hinzman SR
         
BIG 12        
  Kansas Bryce Foster R-SR
  Cincinnati Gavin Gerhardt R-SR
  Texas Tech Sheridan Wilson JR
  Kansas State Sam Hecht SR
  Arizona State Ben Coleman GRAD
  Baylor Coleton Price R-JR
  Houston Demetrius Hunter JR
 

Utah

Iowa State

Jaren

Dylan

Kump

Barrett

R-SR

R-JR

Conference USA        
  Liberty Aaron Fenimore R-SO
Independent      
 

Notre Dame

UConn

Ashton

Wes

Craig

Hoeh

JR

SR

Mountain West        
  Air Force Costen Cooley SR
  Fresno State Jacob Spomer SR
Pac 12        
  Washington State Brock Dieu R-SR
SEC        
  Florida Jake Slaughter R-SR
  Auburn Connor Lew JR
  Alabama Parker Brailsford R-JR
  Missouri Connor Tollison GRAD
  Vanderbilt Jordan White GRAD
  Arkansas Caden Kitler R-JR
  Georgia Drew Bobo R-JR
         

The Rimington Trophy Presents its 2025 Watchlist

The Rimington Trophy is proud to release its 2025 preseason Watchlist. This year, the Trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) to narrow down its list to the top 40 centers. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allowed the Trophy committee to create a watchlist based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF. Once the season begins, schools will be able to nominate their centers for late addition based on in-season merit. 

While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses these three prestigious teams to determine a winner:

·      Walter Camp Foundation (WCF)
·      Sporting News (SN)
·      Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)
Because the selectors of these three 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. The Rimington Trophy committee’s policy is to count all players that play primarily the center position for their respective teams as centers, even though they may be listed as guards or tackles on the 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 the most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by a majority vote from the Rimington Trophy Committee, provided with data from Pro Football Focus.

About the Rimington Trophy

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football. Since its inception, the award has raised over $5 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation.

Dave Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy’s only two-time winner as the nation’s finest college interior lineman. For more on the Rimington Trophy, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com

About the Boomer Esiason Foundation

In 1993, Boomer Esiason’s son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF). Boomer and his wife Cheryl founded the Boomer Esiason Foundation to raise funds and awareness for the cystic fibrosis community. To date, the Foundation has raised over $175 million and works to provide educational and financial resources to help people living with CF in the here and now.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs, digestive system, and reproductive system of about 40,000 Americans by causing a thick build-up of mucus that leads to blockage, inflammation, and infection.

About Pro Football Focus

Since 2006, PFF has built the world’s most comprehensive sports data and analytics database, relied on by top industry professionals and fans alike to power winning decisions. PFF analyzes every player and every play of every game to calculate player grades, in-depth performance stats, and rankings for the NFL, fantasy football, and NFL Draft. All 32 NFL teams use PFF data and tools, as do all 136 FBS teams, 90 FCS teams, professional leagues like CFL and UFL, media networks, player agencies, video game companies, and more. PFF is transforming sports strategy and decision-making across fantasy football and betting, in the front office and on the field. In 2025, PFF’s college analysts supported the Rimington Trophy in creating the Watchlist.

About the NCFAA

The Rimington Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information.

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