2023 Biletnikoff Award (Top Receiver) Preseason Watchlist

August 7, 2023 by biletnikoffaward.com and collegefootballpoll.com staff

Forty-nine players are on the 2023 Preseason Watch List for The Biletnikoff Award which recognizes the season's top outstanding FBS receiver. Any player who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes the outstanding receiver, not merely the outstanding wide receiver. The award recipient is selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, comprised of prominent college football journalists, commentators, and former receivers.

CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove has been a voting member of the Biletnikoff Award since 2016 (8 years). Five of the seven players he voted for won the award, including the last four in-a-row. See the complete of BiletnikoffAward.com/voters.

During the season, receivers may be added or dropped as performances dictate. Actual, not potential, performance is the basis for inclusion on the watch list. The transparently detailed and explicit criteria for candidate eligibility, watch list inclusion, and voting appear at: BiletnikoffAward.com/criteria

Key Dates in 2023
November 13-19, 2023: Voting window to determine semifinalists
November 20, 2023: Semifinalists announcement
November 20-25, 2023: Voting window to determine 3 Finalists
November 28, 2023: - Announcement of 3 Finalists
November 28-December 2, 2023: Voting window to determine winner
December 7, 2023: Winner announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
Saturday, March 9, 2024: The Biletnikoff award celebration & presentation of the 2023 Biletnikoff Award will be held at the Dunlap Champions Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

Fred Biletnikoff, now 80 years old of as February 23, was a 6-1, 190-pounder in his playing days with excellent hands and deceptive speed. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns during his 14-year career with the Oakland Raiders from 1965 through 1978. At the time of his retirement, Fred not only dominated the Raiders’ record book for pass receiving but he owned several significant NFL marks as well. Along with another Hall of Fame receiver, Raymond Berry, Fred held the record for having caught 40 or more passes in 10 consecutive seasons.

He was the Raiders' second draft pick in 1965 after an All-America campaign at Florida State. Biletnikoff caught four touchdown passes in his team’s 36-19 Gator Bowl victory over Oklahoma to complete a 9-1-1 season with the only loss at Virginia Tech. Over-all, he caught 70 passes in his senior season for 1,179 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Biletnikoff was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 30, 1988, and the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

2023 Biletnikoff Award Watch List

Previous Biletnikoff Winners

2022 - Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee
2021 - Jordan Addison, Pitt
2020 - DeVonta Smith, Alabama
2019 - Ja'Marr Chase, LSU
2018 - Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
2017 - James Washington, Oklahoma State
2016 - Dede Westbrook, Oklahoma
2015 - Corey Coleman, Baylor
2014 - Amari Cooper, Alabama
2013 - Brandin Cooks, Oregon State
2012 - Marqise Lee, USC
2011 - Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
2010 - Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
2009 - Golden Tate, Notre Dame
2008 - Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
2007 - Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
2006 - Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
2005 - Mike Hass, Oregon State
2004 - Braylon Edwards, Michigan
2003 - Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
2002 - Charles Rogers, Michigan State
2001 - Josh Reed, LSU
2000 - Antonio Bryant, Pittsburgh
1999 - Troy Walters, Stanford
1998 - Troy Edwards, Louisiana Tech
1997 - Randy Moss, Marshall
1996 - Marcus Harris, Wyoming
1995 - Terry Glenn, Ohio State
1994 - Bobby Ingram, Penn State

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