Raiola Named To The Shaun Alexander Award Watch List
Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola earned another preseason honor, as he was named to the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award watch list on Wednesday.
The award, presented by the Maxwell Football Club, is given to the nation’s top freshman, and Raiola is one of 37 players on the preseason list, which includes both true freshmen and redshirt freshmen.
Raiola, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound quarterback, was one of the nation’s top high school quarterbacks in the class of 2022, as he was a consensus top 10 national recruit. He passed for nearly 8,500 yards and 88 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions in his high school career. As a senior, he threw for 2,666 yards and 34 touchdowns in helping Buford (Ga.) High School to an 11-2 record. Raiola was named the starter for Nebraska’s season opener last week and will be the first Husker true freshmen to start a season opener since Adrian Martinez in 2018.
The Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award has been presented to the College Freshman Player of the Year since 2018 and is named in honor of Shaun Alexander, a former standout at the University of Alabama and the 2005 NFL MVP with the Seattle Seahawks. Past winners include Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) - 2018, Kenneth Gainwell (Memphis)-2019, Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) – 2020, Brock Bowers (Georgia) – 2021, Drake Maye (North Carolina) 2022 and Caleb Downs (Alabama) 2023.
The winner will be announced on Dec. 26, and will be honored on March 14, 2025, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.