Alabama gets two players on the 2022 Maxwell Award Preseason Watch List as quarterback Bryce Young and outside linebacker Will Anderson were among the 85 players chosen by the Maxwell Football Club on Monday.

The Maxwell Award is given annually to the best player in college football, as voted on by a committee consisting of sportscasters, sportswriters, head coaches and members of the Maxwell Football Club. Named after Robert “Tiny” Maxwell, a Swarthmore College football player, coach and sportswriter, the award was founded in 1937. The last four Maxwell Awards were won by SEC players, with three of the four coming from Alabama.

It should come as no surprise that Young and Anderson are on the watch list, as they were both leaders and integral parts of Alabama's 2021 team that made it to the CFP National Championship.

Last season, Young broke both Alabama's single-season passing yards record with 4,872 yards and touchdown record with 47 touchdowns, which ranked first in the SEC and second in the nation, only coming behind Western Kentucky's Bailey Zappe, who ended up breaking the FBS records for both. Young is also no stranger to the Maxwell Award as his 2021 record-breaking season won him the prestigious award, making him the fifth Alabama player to do so and the second straight Crimson Tide player to win it with DeVonta Smith winning it in 2020.

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Along with the Maxwell Award, Young's 2021 season resulted in him winning many more awards, including the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O'Brien Award and the Manning Award, as well as being named AP College Football Player of the Year, Sporting News College Football Player of the Year, SEC Offensive Player of the Year and most recently, SEC Male Athlete of the Year.

Young looks to do what only two players have ever done before him by winning the Maxwell Award twice. The two players who achieved this feat were Johnny Lattner (1952, 1953) and Tim Tebow (2007, 2008). Young is one of 42 quarterbacks who made the watch list.

As dominant as Young was on the offensive side of the ball last season, Anderson was just as dominant on the defensive side of the ball for the Crimson Tide. In 2021, he recorded 101 total tackles, including 33.5 tackles for loss, and 17.5 sacks, which ranked first in the nation. Some awards he won for his 2021 season includes the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Cotton Bowl Classic MVP.

Anderson is the only defensive player to make the watch list and looks to be the first defensive player to win the award since Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o in 2012.

Both Young and Anderson are expected to develop further going into their junior seasons as they look to avenge the Crimson Tide's championship loss last season.

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