Luke Wypler named to Rimington Trophy preseason watch list

COLUMBUS — The progress was evident for Luke Wypler last season at Ohio State.

Now in his second season as the Buckeyes starting center, Wypler has a chance to become one of the best at his position in the country. And folks are beginning to notice how good Wypler can be.

Wypler was named to the preseason watch list for the Rimington Trophy, given annually to the top center in college football, on Friday morning. He is aiming to become the fourth Buckeyes center to win the award. Previous winners were LeCharles Bentley in 2001, Pat Elflein in 2016 and Billy Price in 2017.

For Wypler, he felt himself growing more comfortable as the year went on last fall. And he expects more of the same this season.

“The game is starting to slow down,” Luke Wypler said in the spring. “It’s nice to play the game inside the game, now, start just using different techniques and doing different types of things to improve every day.

“I think after starting 13 games together last year, I think me and [quarterback C.J. Stroud] have a really good rapport with each other. We know what each other is thinking every play. So it’s easy to kind of communicate without actually having to communicate.”

With another fantastic year for the Buckeyes, Luke Wypler might just become the fourth Ohio State center to win the prestigious Rimington Trophy.

Other Buckeyes on preseason watch lists, All-American teams

Quarterback C.J. Stroud, Smith-Njigba and running back TreVeyon Henderson were all named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is given annually to the top player in all of college football, on Monday. Stroud, the Buckeyes second-year starting quarterback, was among 35 quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien Award watch list, and he is among the preseason favorites to win the award. That watch list came out Tuesday.

TreVeyon Henderson and Smith-Njigba were both named preseason first-team All-Americans by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Another pair of Buckeyes, tackle Dawand Jones and kicker Noah Ruggles, were second-team selections. That list came out at the beginning of July. Stroud was not on that list. He was beat out by Alabama’s Bryce Young and USC’s Caleb Williams for the two quarterback spots.

Henderson was also named to the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the country’s top running back, on Wednesday. And Smith-Njigba was listed as a preseason player to watch for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the top receiver each year.