June 26, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern junior running back Tyrell Sutton (Akron, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) is one of 64 players nationally who has been named to the preseason watch list for the 71st annual Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year. He is one of only 10 Big Ten standouts on the preseason list.

The Maxwell Award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell. Brady Quinn of the University of Notre Dame was the recipient in 2006.

Players selected to the initial list have distinguished themselves as All-Conference or All-America selections from their respective universities in past years.

Sutton, a 2006 consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten running back, is named for the second straight season. Also a Doak Walker (top running back) candidate for the second time, Sutton has been named to various 2007 preseason teams: second-team All-Big Ten by Lindy's, Street & Smith's, Blue Ribbon, Phil Steele's and collegefootballnews.com. Sutton was ranked 18th-best running back nationally by Lindy's. Sutton is gunning for a third straight 1,000-yard rushing season and is the Big Ten's second-leading active rusher with 2,474 career yards. His 3,139 career all-purpose yards ranks 12th all-time at Northwestern.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced in early November and three finalists for the award will be announced November 26th. The winner of the 2007 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 6, 2007.

The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club's Selection Committee and the Maxwell Club reserves the right to make additions and subtractions to these lists as the 2007 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA Sports Information Directors, Head Coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for these awards.

2007 Maxwell Watch List

Ainge, Erik	        Tennessee	QB	Sr
Beckum, Travis	        Wisconsin	TE	Jr
Bennett, Earl	        Vanderbilt 	WR	Jr
Bernard, Yvenson	Oregon State 	RB	Sr
Booty, John David	USC	        QB	Sr
Bowman, Adarius	        Oklahoma State	WR	Sr
Brennan, Colt	        Hawaii	        QB	Sr
Brohm, Brian	        Louisville	QB	Sr
Bryant, Dorien	        Purdue 	        WR	Sr
Butler, Deon	        Penn State 	WR	Jr
Caldwell, Andre	        Florida	        WR	Sr
Carlson, John	        Notre Dame	TE	Sr
Carr, Greg	        Florida State 	WR	Jr
Charles, Jamal	        Texas	        RB	Jr
Choice, Tashard	        Georgia Tech	RB	Sr
Daniel, Chase	        Missouri	QB	Jr
Davis, James	        Clemson  	RB	Jr
Dillard, Jarrett	Rice  	        WR	Sr
Doucet, Early	        LSU	        WR	Sr
Douglas, Malik	        Louisville	WR	Sr
Fletcher, Damian	Southern Miss	RB	Soph
Goodson, Mike	        Texas A&M  	RB	Soph
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus	Mississippi	RB	Sr
Grothe, Matt	        South Florida	QB	Soph
Hall, D.J.	        Alabama	        WR	Sr
Harrell, Graham	        Texas Tech 	QB	Jr
Hart, Michael	        Michigan	RB	Sr
Harvin, Percy	        Florida	        WR	Soph
Henne, Chad	        Michigan	QB	Sr
Hill, P.J.	        Wisconsin	RB	Soph
Jackson, DeSean	        California	WR	Jr
Johnson, Brian	        Utah	        QB	Jr
Johnson, Ian	        Bosie State	RB	Jr
Jones, Felix	        Arkansas	RB	Jr
Kelly, Malcolm	        Oklahoma	WR	Jr
Kinder, Derek	        Pittsburgh	WR	Sr
Lumpkin, Kregg	        Georgia	        RB	Sr
Manningham, Mario	Michigan	WR	Jr
Markley, Chris	        UCLA	        RB	Sr
McCoy, Colt	        Texas	        QB	Soph
McFadden, Darren	Arkansas	RB	Jr
McGee, Stephen	        Texas A&M 	QB	Jr
McRae, Kalvin	        Ohio	        RB	Sr
Monk, Marcus	        Arkansas	WR	Sr
Nelson, Shawn	        Southern Miss	TE	Jr
Ore, Brandon	        Virginia Tech	RB	Jr
Painter, Curtis	        Purdue 	        QB	Sr
Patrick, Allen	        Oklahoma	RB	Sr
Purify, Maurice	        Nebraska	WR	Sr
Rice, Ray	        Rutgers 	RB	Jr
Ryan, Matt	        Boston College	QB	Sr
Skinner, Riley	        Wake Forest	QB	Soph
Slaton, Steve	        West Virginia 	RB	Jr
Spiller, C.J.	        Clemson 	RB	Soph
Stewart, Jonathan	Oregon	        RB	Jr
Sutton, Tyrell	        Northwestern	RB	Jr
Sweed, Limas	        Texas	        WR	Sr
Tebow, Tim	        Florida	        QB	Soph
Torian, Ryan	        Arizona State 	RB	Sr
Urrutia, Mario	        Louisville	WR	Jr
Wells, Chris	        Ohio State 	RB	Soph
White, Pat	        West Virginia 	QB	Jr
Wilson, John Parker	Alabama	        QB	Sr
Woodson, Andre	        Kentucky	QB	Sr