NEW ORLEANS (August 14, 2025) – The Manning Award, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its preseason Watch List on Thursday. The list includes 27 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2025 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the postseason.
 
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' postseason performances in its balloting.
 
"We're looking forward to another exciting year of college football," said Archie Manning. "I'd like to thank the Sugar Bowl for continuing to build the tradition of the Manning Award which now has over 20 years of honoring the top quarterbacks in the country for the entire football season. This year we have another great group on our preseason Watch List; in October, we'll review the transfers and other newcomers and then boost the Watch List with the best from that group."
 
Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Transfers and other newcomers at schools were not eligible for the preseason Watch List, but additional quarterbacks will be added to the Watch List during the season. Finalists will be selected prior to the postseason and the winner will be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.
 
"It's an honor for the Sugar Bowl to partner with the Manning family in recognizing the best college football quarterbacks in the country," said Jeff Hundley, CEO of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. "We've been able to recognize a great list of Manning Award winners for two decades now, and we're all looking forward to another exciting year of great quarterbacks and great games capped off by the College Football Playoff, which includes a Playoff Quarterfinal here in the Sugar Bowl."
 
This year's Watch List includes players from nine Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. The Big 12 leads the way with seven selections, followed by the SEC with five, and the ACC with four representatives.
 
For full Manning Award information, follow @ManningAward on X (FKA Twitter) and Instagram; or visit AllstateSugarBowl.org.
 
2025 Manning Award Preseason Watch List (2024 stats)

Player, Class, School	QBR	Pct.	Yards	TD	INT	Rushing
Drew Allar, Sr., Penn State	81.6	66.5	3,327	24	8	302 yds, 6 TDs
Luke Altmyer, Sr., Illinois	66	60.8	2,717	22	6	217 yds, 4 TDs
CJ Bailey, So., NC State	62.4	64.9	2,413	17	10	279 yds, 5 TDs
Rocco Becht, Jr., Iowa State	69.4	59.4	3,505	25	9	318 yds, 8 TDs
Tucker Gleason, Sr., Toledo	53.3	60.5	2,793	24	8	364 yds, 7 TDs
Taylen Green, Sr., Arkansas	67.4	60.4	3,154	15	9	602 yds, 8 TDs
Josh Hoover, Jr., TCU	72.8	66.5	3,949	27	11	4 TDs
Blake Horvath, Sr., Navy	83.4	57.6	1,353	13	4	1,254 yds, 17 TDs
Katin Houser, Jr., East Carolina	42.3	60.8	2,006	18	11	170 yds, 4 TDs
Keyone Jenkins, Jr., FIU	39.7	61.8	2,557	22	8	130 yds, 2 TDs
Kevin Jennings, Jr., SMU	74.5	65	3,245	23	11	354 yds, 5 TDs
Avery Johnson, Jr., Kansas State	69.6	58.3	2,712	25	10	605 yds, 7 TDs
Colton Joseph, So., Old Dominion	66.4	59.9	1,627	11	5	647 yds, 11 TDs
Haynes King, Sr., Georgia Tech	82.4	72.9	2,114	14	2	587 yds, 11 TDs
Cade Klubnik, Sr., Clemson	78.9	63.4	3,639	36	6	463 yds, 7 TDs
Sam Leavitt, So., Arizona State	81.6	61.7	2,885	24	6	443 yds, 5 TDs
Maddux Madsen, Jr., Boise State	73.6	62.4	3,018	23	6	221 yds, 5 TDs
Owen McCown, So., UTSA	61.6	63	3,424	25	10	340 yds, 3 TDs
Behren Morton, Sr., Texas Tech	56.4	63.3	3,335	27	8	1 TD
Parker Navarro, Sr., Ohio	68.5	66.1	2,423	13	11	1,054 yds, 18 TDs
Garrett Nussmeier, Sr., LSU	79	64.2	4,052	29	12	3 TDs
Diego Pavia, Sr., Vanderbilt	73.9	59.4	2,293	20	4	800 yds, 8 TDs
Marcel Reed, So., Texas A&M	75.1	61.3	1,864	15	6	547 yds, 7 TDs
Sawyer Robertson, Sr., Baylor	83.7	62.2	3,071	28	8	230 yds, 4 TDs
LaNorris Sellers, So., South Carolina	70.3	65.6	2,534	18	7	674 yds, 7 TDs
Brendan Sorsby, Jr., Cincinnati	72.6	64	2,813	18	7	447 yds, 9 TDs
Nicholas Vattiato, Sr., Middle Tennessee	38.1	64.4	3,092	16	10	77 yds, 1 TD

 
In its first 21 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 15 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (Cam Ward, Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) have each had five winners.

Statistically, the Manning Award has seen a wide-range of quarterbacks. Eighteen of the Manning Award men threw for over 3,000 yards in their winning campaign, including 4,000-yard seasons from Bennett, Burrow, Griffin III, Jones, Marcus Mariota, Mayfield, Murray, Ryan, Ward, Watson (twice), Winston and Bryce Young. On the other hand, Daniels, Manziel, Murray, Newton, Watson (in 2015) and Vince Young were all 1,000-yard rushers during their Manning years.

Perhaps most impressive among the statistics of the quarterbacks recognized by the Manning Award is touchdowns scored. Fifteen of the winners accounted for over 40 touchdowns during their successful seasons.

Previous Manning Award winners have also factored prominently in the NFL Draft as they all heard their names called on Draft Day. Seven honorees were selected No. 1 overall (Burrow, Mayfield, Murray, Newton, Russell, Winston, and Bryce Young), while five others went No. 2 or No. 3 (Daniels, Griffin III, Mariota, Ryan and Vince Young).

All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.
 
In addition to the Manning Award's yearly honor, each week during the regular season, eight quarterbacks are recognized as Manning Award Stars of the Week. Seventy-four quarterbacks were honored during the 2024 season and 570 different quarterbacks from 135 schools have been recognized since 2011.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.