Oklahoma Sooners Football: Mayfield, Westbrook Named Finalists for Awards

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield was been named a finalist for both the Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award on Monday. Additionally, Oklahoma wide receiver Dede Westbrook has been named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award.

The best quarterback-receiver tandem in America has been on a surge since Oklahoma’s loss to Ohio State, with Westbrook gaining 1,200 receiving yards and catching 15 touchdowns over the last eight games. Mayfield now has 35 touchdown passes and has only thrown eight interceptions this season, and has a passer rating of 194.7 (compared to 173.3 a season ago), which leads the nation.

Westbrook is currently second in the country in receiving yards (1,354) and tied for third in touchdown receptions (15), while Mayfield seventh in passing yards (3,381), tied for fourth (ironically with Davis Webb and Patrick Mahomes) in touchdown passes (35), and is tied for the national lead in completion percentage (71.4%) with Washington State’s Luke Falk.

Mayfield is going up against Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers for the Maxwell Award (given to the outstanding collegiate player of the year), and is up against Jackson and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson for the O’Brien Award (given to the nation’s top quarterback). Mayfield’s path to winning these awards is a bit tricky considering how good Lamar Jackson has been with both his arm and legs, but a big performance against Oklahoma State will give him a decent chance.

Westbrook is up against Austin Carr of Northwestern and Isaiah Zay Jones of East Carolina for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the best receiver in the nation (regardless of position). Jones is the only player in the country with more receiving yards than Westbrook, totaling 1,685 yards through 11 games, while Carr has totaled 1,170 yards and 12 touchdowns for Northwestern. Considering that Jones only has eight touchdown receptions (compared to Dede’s 15) and plays at a smaller school in a lesser conference, I’d say Dede’s got this one in the bag.