SALT LAKE CITY – Local college football stars Jaren Hall from BYU and Tavion Thomas keep racking up preseason recognitions.

The latest comes from the Walter Camp Award. An annual award is given to the college football player of the year.

2022 @WalterCampFF Player of Year Watch Listhttps://t.co/yupOsyS7Uk

52 players. 40 different schools. 11 conferences (including independents) represented.@ncfaa

The @WalterCampFF will also recognize FBS Offensive & Defensive Players of Week for the 19th straight year! pic.twitter.com/wdPbDaPINp

— Walter Camp Football (@WalterCampFF) July 29, 2022

Hall and Thomas make up two of the 52 players on the watch list.

“We are proud to continue the great work of Walter Camp and recognize the best college football players in the nation,” Walter Camp Foundation president Tony Mortali said. “This watch list is a great start to what is shaping up to be another exciting year of college football.”

The 2022 watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists in mid-November.  The 2022 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 130 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced on ESPN’s College Football Awards Show (date TBD).

BYU QB Jaren Hall

A dual-threat athlete, Hall is a pass-first quarterback who had the tall order of replacing New York Jets signal-caller Zach Wilson last season. Hall passed with flying colors posting a record of 8-2 as the starting quarterback.

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick believes Hall has endless potential leading BYU’s offense in his second full season as the starter.

“It surprises me how sort of unnoticed it went, how great he played. He didn’t just play well; he was great,” said Roderick to KSL Sports. “He was one of the best quarterbacks in the country last year. I would not trade him for anybody in college football and I mean that.”

Utah RB Tavion Thomas

Tavion Thomas racked up 204 carries for 1,108 yards (5.4 ypc) and 21 touchdowns, helping the Utes to their first-ever Pac-12 title and Rose Bowl appearance last season. His 21 touchdowns broke the Utah single-season record while putting Thomas solidly at third in the country in touchdowns amassed in 2021. Thomas also finished the year with five 100-yard games and scored at least one touchdown in his final nine games of the season. Thomas’ efforts with the Utes earned him All-Pac-12 first-team honors.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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