TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., the Florida-based creator and sponsor of the Biletnikoff Award, has released the 2019 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List, and UCF’s Gabriel Davis is among the honorees.
The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the season's outstanding FBS receiver in college football. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football's outstanding receiver, not merely college football's outstanding wide receiver.
Davis comes into 2019 as UCF’s top returning receiver after earning Second Team All-Conference honors as a sophomore last year. Davis hauled in 53 receptions for 815 yards and scored seven touchdowns ad the Knights went 12-1 in 2018.
The award recipient is selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, Biletnikoff Award winners, and other former receivers. Foundation trustees do not vote and have never voted.
Receivers are frequently added to the watch list as their season performances dictate. Actual, not potential, performance is the basis for inclusion on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.
The 2019 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on December 12, 2019, at the College Football Hall of Fame on The Home Depot College Football Awards presented by Gildan to be broadcast 7:00 - 9:00pm (EST) on ESPN.
The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., will announce the ten Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on November 18, 2019, following the vote by the distinguished members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Likewise, the three finalists will be declared, following another vote, on November 25, 2019.
The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Fred was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI.
2019 National Watch Lists
- Maxwell Award: Adrian Killins Jr.
- Bednarik Award: Richie Grant
- AFCA Good Works Team: Jordan Johnson
- Doak Walker Award: Greg McCrae
- Biletnikoff Award: Gabriel Davis