Justin Osborne named to Rimington Trophy watch list

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Osborne Makes Rimington Trophy Watch List

NEW YORK, N.Y. (SMU) – SMU offensive lineman Justin Osborne has been tabbed to the 2024 Rimington Trophy Watch List, the organization announced on Friday.

The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football. This year, the trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) to create the watch list. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment and this grading allowed the committee to create a watch list based on both nominations and data.

Osborne has been a staple along the line during his four years on the Hilltop. The Flower Mound native has started 42 games as a Mustang and is a two-time all-conference selection. In 2023, he helped anchor an offensive line that ranked in the top 20 in the FBS in scoring offense (eighth), sacks allowed (13th) and total offense (16th).

Last season, he earned numerous accolades for his play highlighted by being a first-team All-AAC selection along with being named to the Dave Campbell's Texas Football (DCTF) All-Texas First Team.

The graduate student has already garnered preseason recognition, being named to the Outland Trophy watch list, DCTF All-Texas First Team, Phil Steele Preseason All-ACC First Team and Athlon Sports Preseason All-ACC Second Team.

Only two conferences had more than five athletes on the Rimington Trophy watch list, as the Southeastern Conference (SEC) boasted 10 players while the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) had nine.

The honor is named after Dave Rimington, a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which he became the John Outland Trophy's only two-time winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.

The Rimington Trophy committee uses the Walter Camp Foundation (WCF), Sporting News (SN) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) All-America teams to determine a winner of the award. These three lists place centers in a "mix" of offensive lineman so their 11-man first teams can often feature two centers. The committee's policy is to count all players that primarily play the center position, even though they may be listed differently on 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 wins. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by a majority vote from the Rimington Trophy Committee.