NEW YORK — UTSA center CJ James has been named to the preseason watch list for the Rimington Trophy.
James is one of 40 FBS centers, including one of five in the American Athletic Conference chosen to the watch list for the award which is presented annually and named for Dave Rimington, who was a consensus first-team All-America
center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only two-time winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.
A transfer from New Mexico, James started all 12 contests for the Lobos in 2023 and logged 827 snaps. He only surrendered three hits on the quarterback in 435 pass-blocking snaps and received a 75.8 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF).
A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, James played 613 snaps for the UNM in 2022 after transferring from Abilene Christian, where he saw the field for 658 snaps. PFF has credited him with just eight hits on the QB during his career of more than 2,000 snaps.
The Rimington Trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) to narrow down its list to the top 40 centers. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allowed the committee to create a watchlist based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF. Once the season begins, schools will be able to nominate their centers for late addition based on in-season merit.
While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses these 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, provided with data from Pro Football Focus.
For more on the Rimington Trophy, visit
https://rimingtontrophy.com.
Sixteen National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) members are unveiling preseason watch lists over a 12-day period as the association spearheads a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit
NCFAA.org or follow on Twitter at @NCFAA.
UTSA has been picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll. The Roadrunners will kick off the 2024 season on Saturday, Aug. 31, when they host Kennesaw State at 2:30 p.m. at the Alamodome.
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