Texas A&M junior offensive lineman Erik McCoy was named to the Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List, the Rimington Trophy Committee announced Friday. The award is given annually to the nation’s top center.
With McCoy as the starting center, the Aggies averaged over 400 total yards per game in 2016 and 2017, while clearing the way for a 1,000-yard rusher (Trayveon Williams in 2016), a quarterback with 2,000-plus passing yards and 500-plus rushing yards (Trevor Knight in 2016), a quarterback with a 300 pass, 100 rush game (Kellen Mond vs. Arkansas, 2017) and a quarterback with two 400-plus passing games in a season (Nick Starkel, 2017).
While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses 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.
The winner will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday, January 12, 2019.
