NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Baylor senior defensive end Shawn Oakman was listed among "players to watch" for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award in a 50-player preseason watch list released Friday by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Oakman’s inclusion bolstered his already long list of preseason honors that includes Big 12 Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, preseason All-Big 12, Bednarik Award, Rotary Lombardi and Nagurski Trophy watch lists member.
The senior is one of only three defensive lineman and 13 defensive players on the list. He is one of four Big 12 Conference players on the list.
The Philadelphia product comes into 2015 as a returning All-American. Last season, he started all 13 games, while setting a BU single-season record with 11.0 sacks, and he ranked 15th nationally (second in Big 12) at 0.85 sacks per-game. Oakman ranked top 10 nationally in tackles-for-loss (1.5 per-game, 10th) and fumbles recovered (three, 10th).
He tallied consensus first-team All-Big 12 honors by totaling 51 tackles (38 solo), 19.5 tackles-for-loss (-89 yards), 11.0 sacks (-73 yards), nine QB hurries, three PBUs, three forced fumbles and three fumbles recovered on season.
Running back Lache Seastrunk and quarterback Bryce Petty made the Walter Camp watch list, in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
The Walter Camp watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in mid-November. The 2015 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, which is voted on by the 128 NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Dec. 10. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation's annual national awards banquet on Jan. 16 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp - a former Yale University athlete and football coach - is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to 11 men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
