
WILLIAMSBURG — After establishing themselves among the nation’s elite players, senior left tackle Charles Grant and senior running back Bronson Yoder were selected to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List.
The award is presented annually to the FCS national offensive player of the year.
Grant and Yoder are among an impressive group of 35 players who garnered the distinction, which includes three offensive lineman and 12 running backs. W&M is one of just four schools to have multiple players earn a spot on the list.
The award, in its 38th season and known as the Heisman of the FCS, is named for legendary running back Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson State as part of his Hall of Fame career. Past recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp and Trey Lance.
Recently honored as preseason All-Americans by Stats Perform and FCS Football Central, both standouts were also chosen to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 Watch List and garnered preseason All-CAA honors.
A consensus All-America selection in 2023, Grant enters his fourth season as a starter and is one of the NFL’s top prospects at the offensive line position.
The two-time first-team All-CAA selection ranked as the conference’s top tackle in pass blocking efficiency last season and allowed just one sack on 334 pass blocking snaps. Additionally, he finished the fall grading out at 92 percent with 40 pancakes en route to helping W&M rank 13th national in rushing (196.9).
His impressive junior campaign followed his breakout sophomore season in which he did not allow any sacks in 13 starts and helped W&M rank third nationally in rushing (265.8) and fourth in fewest sacks allowed per game (0.77).
One of the nation’s most productive running backs throughout his career at W&M, Yoder enters his final season ranked among the program’s career top-10 lists in rushing yards (2,660, 8th), rushing touchdowns (25, 8th) and all-purpose yards (4,322, 5th).
Although he was limited to just four games last season due to injury, the two-time All-CAA selection ranked 12th nationally in rushing (1,255) and 14th in rushing touchdown (13) in 2022 en route to earning first-team all-conference accolades.
In addition to garnering multiple preseason top-20 rankings, W&M enters the 2024 campaign having posted three consecutive winning seasons. Additionally, the Tribe earned a top-25 ranking during each of the last three years.
Season tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at TribeAthletics.com. NEW FOR 2024: Tailgate Terrace (located directly under the videoboard in the south end zone) is now the Tribe Touchdown Club. This is a ticketed area, so you CANNOT enter this area if you do not have a Tribe Touchdown Club ticket. For more information, visit the Tribe Touchdown Club page here.
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