Calvin Ridley, Derrius Guice and Arden Key among 2017 Walter Camp Award watch list nominees

The 2017 Walter Camp Award watch list was revealed on Friday, and several players from the Southeastern Conference have their names among the nominees.

Eight players from the SEC will be vying for the award, which is given to the best player of the year, decided upon by the coaches of the FBS annually. Last year’s winner was the sensational Lamar Jackson of Louisville , and the SEC is no stranger to the award, either. In recent years, Derrick Henry of Alabama and Cam Newton of Auburn have won, and prior to that, Darren McFadden of Arkansas, Danny Wuerffel of Florida, Bo Jackson and Pat Sullivan of Auburn and Herschel Walker of Georgia were previous recipients.

Reigning SEC Freshman and Offensive Player of the Year Jalen Hurts is one of the eight players from the conference to be named on the watch list. He’s joined by teammates Bo Scarbrough, Calvin Ridley and Minkah Fitzpatrick as ‘Bama has four nominees to enter the year.

The next team to have the most nominees from the SEC is LSU Tigers, who have two going into the season. Running back Derrius Guice and defensive end Arden Key are the Tigers who earned recognition, and perhaps deservedly so. Guice erupted onto the scene as Leonard Fournette’s backup in 2016 and appears poised for a standout season as the bell cow in LSU’s backfield. Key, meanwhile, is a monster disrupter on the defensive line and could be a Top 5 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft if all goes well.

Elsewhere, Auburn placekicker Daniel Carlson and Georgia tailback Nick Chubb are the final two from the conference to make it on the list. Carlson is one of the nation’s best kickers, so it should come as no surprise that he was featured for this award. Chubb, meanwhile, leads a terrific backfield in Athens and will look to end his collegiate career on a high note.