MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the first time since 2009, a Kansas State tight end is a candidate for the John Mackey Award as Dayton Valentine earned a spot on the 2017 preseason watch list, the organization announced Tuesday.
Additionally, center Reid Najvar was named to the Rimington Trophy watch list after being placed on the award’s spring watch list in May.
Valentine, a product of Baldwin City, Kansas, is just the third Wildcat to be a candidate for the John Mackey Award, following 2004 preseason candidate Brian Casey and 2009 midseason candidate Jeron Mastrud. Najvar’s mention for the Rimington Trophy is the eighth by a Wildcat and seventh since 2010. B.J. Finney was a candidate in 2012 and 2013 before being a finalist as a senior in 2014. Nick Leckey was also a finalist during his senior campaign in 2003, while other previous K-State candidates include Jordan Bedore (2008), Wade Weibert (2010) andDalton Risner (2016).
Both Valentine and Najvar were Honorable Mention All-Big 12 picks by the league’s coaches in 2016 after starting all 13 games and helping lead the Wildcats to a 9-4 record and a victory in the Texas Bowl. The duo played a significant part in K-State’s run-blocking unit that set the school record for rushing yards per carry (5.27), rank third in school history in total rushing yards (3,013) and rushing yards per game (231.8), and seventh in rushing touchdowns (39). K-State’s 39 rushing scores ranked sixth in the nation last year, the first time the Wildcats ranked in the top 10 since 2012.
The Wildcats open their seven-game home slate and the 2017 season with the ninth-annual K-State Family Reunion on Saturday, September 2, against Central Arkansas. As K-State draws nearer to running its consecutive sellout streak to 40 games, tickets can be purchased through the K-State Athletics Ticket office online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.
RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics