VILLANOVA, Pa.—Sophomore operating again
David Avit is amongst 30 offensive gamers nationwide, together with 4 from CAA Football, who have been named to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List on Tuesday afternoon. The watch listing was introduced by Stats Perform for the annual award which is introduced to the nationwide offensive participant of the yr in Division I FCS faculty soccer. This is the second straight yr that Villanova has had a participant named to the preliminary watch listing fort the Walter Payton Award.
Avit is a rising star nationally after he burst on to the collegiate scene as a real freshman final yr. He completed third amongst all FCS freshmen in dashing yards and was named a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award which is introduced to the highest freshman within the FCS. Avit was the CAA Football Offensive Rookie of the Year and an honorable point out CAA Football All-Conference choice. He is the third participant in class historical past and first non-quarterback to be chosen as a convention Offensive Rookie of the Year. Avit was named to the
Phil Steele Freshman All-American second workforce.
The influence that Avit made in his collegiate rookie season was a right away one. He performed in all 14 video games of the 2024 season and rushed for a team-high 923 yards whereas main the Wildcats with 9 dashing touchdowns. Avit showcased his explosive velocity on quite a few events and scored three touchdowns on runs of 25 yards or longer, together with a pair of scores from 72 yards out and 59 yards out in the identical sport in opposition to Stony Brook. Those two lengthy touchdowns have been a part of a profession day wherein Avit ran for 183 yards and 4 touchdowns on simply 13 carries. It was solely the eighth time in class historical past that one participant rushed for 4 or extra scores in a single sport.
Avit amassed 343 dashing yards and 5 touchdowns in a two-game span in opposition to LIU and Stony Brook within the fifth and sixth contests of his collegiate profession. Later within the yr, he scored a landing in every of the ultimate 4 video games of the common season to assist the Wildcats clinch a postseason berth and finally attain the second spherical of the FCS playoffs. His 923 dashing yards on the yr are the 14
th-highest single season complete in program historical past.
The Walter Payton Award is in its 39
th season and is affectionately often called the Heisman of the FCS. It is called for legendary operating again Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson Sate as a part of his Hall of Fame profession. Villanova has three earlier Walter Payton Award winners: huge receiver
Brian Finneran (1997); operating again
Brian Westbrook (2001); and quarterback
John Robertson (2014). The solely FCS packages with three or extra winners of the Walter Payton Award are the Wildcats and Eastern Washington.
All 13 FCS conferences are represented on the preseason watch listing, which incorporates 9 previous finalists. More gamers can be a part of the watch listing earlier than a nationwide media panel selects the winner from a gaggle of finalists after the common season. The Walter Payton Award was first introduced in 1987.
This yr’s award can be introduced on January 3, 2026, on the Stats Perform National Awards Presentation in Nashville, Tenn. The presentation will even embody the winners of the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Defensive Player of the Year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year), HBCU National Player of the Year and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year.