LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the second straight season, Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels and running back Devin Neal have been named to the preseason watch list for Maxwell Award, which was announced Monday.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, who was a former standout at Swarthmore College and a renowned sportswriter and football official.
Daniels is back for his senior season at Kansas after throwing for 705 yards and five touchdowns in three games in 2023. In 2022, Daniels was a breakthrough player as he led the Jayhawks to a 5-0 start and the program's first bowl game appearance since 2008. He was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection after completing 66.1 percent (152-of-230) of his passes for 2,014 yards and 18 touchdowns. Daniels capped off his sophomore season with a record-setting performance in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, when he completed 37-of-55 passes for 544 yards and five touchdowns, while also rushing for a touchdown.
From Lawndale, California, Daniels enters his senior season ranked No. 9 in school history with 4,297 passing yards and No. 5 with 31 passing touchdowns. At his current career completion rate of 63.6 percent (365-of-574), Daniels would surpass the previous school record of 63.3 percent, set by Todd Reesing from 2006-09.
Neal enters his senior season after becoming the third player in Kansas football history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. In 2023, Neal ran for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns on 203 attempts, averaging 6.3 yards per carry on his way to earning All-Big 12 Second Team honors. His 16 rushing touchdowns are tied for the second most in school history, while his 1,280 rushing yards is ranked No. 4 in school history for a single season.
A hometown native of Lawrence, Kansas, Neal is in position to pursue several school records at Kansas during his senior season. He enters the year ranked No. 4 on the career rushing list with 3,077 yards and No. 3 with 33 touchdowns. Neal has also accumulated 457 receiving yards, and he ranks No. 8 in school history with 3,534 all-purpose yards in his career.
Daniels and Neal are two of 15 players from the Big 12 Conference on the Maxwell Award Watch List, which features 80 players in total. Kansas is one of 17 schools with multiple representatives on the watch list.