CHICAGO — Three South Dakota State offensive standouts were named Wednesday by Stats Perform to the preseason watch list for the 2023 Walter Payton Award. The award, which is presented by FedEx Ground, is given annually to the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Representing the defending national champion Jackrabbits on the 35-player list were running back Isaiah Davis, quarterback Mark Gronowski and wide receiver Jaxon Janke. Davis and Janke were named to the preseason watch list for the second year in a row.
A senior from Joplin, Missouri, Davis led the SDSU rushing attack with 1,451 yards in 2022, averaging 5.8 yards per carry and scoring 15 touchdowns. He topped the 100-yard mark nine times and found the end zone in each of the last 10 games in which he played. He also factored in the passing game with 21 receptions for 173 yards.
Davis enters the season ranked ninth in career rushing at SDSU with 2,970 yards and is tied for sixth in career rushing touchdowns with 32.
Gronowski has led the Jackrabbits to a 22-3 overall record and a pair of appearances in the national championship game during his two seasons as the starting quarterback. After sitting out the 2021 fall season due to injury, Gronowski returned to the lineup in 2022 and accounted for 38 touchdowns — 26 through the air and 12 on the ground. The junior from Naperville, Illinois, completed 65 percent of his passes (232-of-356) for 2,967 yards and gained another 408 yards rushing.
The runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award as the top FCS freshman during the 2020-21 spring season, Gronowski already holds SDSU top-10 career marks in passing touchdowns (tied for sixth, 41), total offense (seventh, 5,517 yards) and passing yards (10th, 4,532 yards).
Janke, a senior from Madison, has been the Jackrabbits’ top receiver each of the past three seasons, including recording 60 catches for 857 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022. On the SDSU career charts, he ranks fourth in receptions (193), is tied for fifth in receiving touchdowns (24) and stands sixth in receiving yards (2,848).
The Walter Payton Award Watch List will be updated periodically throughout the 2023 campaign. A national panel will vote on the award at the end of the regular season, with the winner announced in January in conjunction with the FCS national championship game in Frisco, Texas.