Gunner Romney is officially a receiver to watch.
After his strong start to the 2020 season — more on that in a bit — Romney was added to the 2020 Biletnikoff Award watch list Wednesday.
The Biletnikoff Award “recognizes the college football season’s outstanding FBS receiver. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, split end, inside receiver, slot back or running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award.”
Receivers are periodically added to the list during the season, if their performance warrants consideration. Through four games Romney’s play has more than warranted his inclusion.
Romney has been one of the country’s best pass catchers this season. He leads the Cougars with 453 receiving yards, the fourth-highest yard total in the country.
His 20 receptions are the second most at BYU, behind only fellow wideout Dax Milne (24), and the 26th most in the nation.
Additionally, Romney is averaging 22.6 yards per catch, one of the best marks in college football at 10th overall, and he ranks 10th nationally with 113.3 receiving yards per game.
Romney has three games with over 100 receiving yards to start the year, the lone outlier coming this past weekend against UTSA. Romney left that game for a time after an injury scare, only to return and still finish with 80 yards on four catches.
He is also the first BYU receiver since Cody Hoffman to record 100-plus receiving yards in a game.
In addition to Romney, four other players were added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list, including Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers, a pair of UCF receivers (Marlon Williams and Jaylon Robinson), as well as Mississippi tight end Kenny Yeboah.
All told, there are currently 61 players on the watch list.
No BYU player, nor Utah Ute or Utah State Aggie, has ever won the Biletnikoff Award.
Also on Wednesday, BYU’s James Empey and Utah’s Orlando Umana were named to the Rimington Trophy watch list. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding FBS center.
Empey, who was a Freshman All-America selection in 2018 and a Rimington Trophy watch list honoree in 2019, started BYU’s first two games this season — he has started 28 games overall at BYU — and has helped the Cougars average more than 600 yards of offense per game.
As for Umana, he has played in 39 games in his Utah career, including 25 starts, and earned Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention honors in 2019.
Like the Biletnikoff Award, no BYU, Utah or Utah State player has ever won the Rimington Trophy.