CHICAGO – The Pioneer Football League saw two student-athletes – Davidson running back Mari Adams and Drake quarterback Luke Bailey – named to the 35-player preseason watch list for the 2024 Walter Payton Award, presented annually by Stats Perform to the national offensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.

The award, in its 38th season and affectionately known as the Heisman of the FCS, is named for legendary running back Walter Payton. He starred at Jackson State as part of his Hall of Fame career. Past recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp, and Trey Lance.

As a sophomore, Adams led the PFL and finished fifth nationally with 15 rushing touchdowns while ranking among conference leaders in rushing yards (1,019), yards per rush (6.21), and yards per game (92.6).

Bailey was named Second Team All-PFL and Academic All-PFL after starting all 12 games under center last season. He threw for 2,557 yards on 212 completions with 16 touchdowns while leading Drake to the 2024 PFL title.

The watch list includes all 13 FCS conferences. 2023 Payton recipient Mark Gronowski of national champion South Dakota State is one of 10 past finalists. Only quarterbacks Armanti Edwards from Appalachian State (2008 and ’09) and Jeremiah Briscoe of Sam Houston State (2016 and ’17) have won the award more than once.