University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Christian Haynes Tabbed for the 2023 Outland Trophy Watch List
8/1/2023 12:00:00 PM | Football
FWAAÂ Official Watch List Release
STORRS, Conn. - The Football Writers Association of America has announced the preseason watch list for the 2023 Outland Trophy, with UConn r-senior Christian Haynes (Bowie, MD) earning a spot on this year's list.
Haynes is one of 91 returning standout interior linemen representing all 10 Division I FBS conferences and independents. The 2023 season will close with the award's 78th anniversary and the watch list offers a talented field of players alongside two returning FWAA All-Americans.
Haynes continues to add to his preseason honors heading into the 2023 season after being named to the Athlon Sports College Football Preseason All-America Team and the Walter Camp Preseason FBS All-American teams. In addition, he earned a spot on the 2023 Phil Steele Preseason All-American team and was also named to the 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl 1000.
He is coming off a season where he started all 13 games Became just the third Husky in the FBS era to earn All-American honors after being named to the Sporting News and Associated Press All-American teams. Haynes helped lead an offensive line that fueled a rushing attack that averaged 194.9 yards per game and rank 30th nationally in sacks allowed, giving up 17 on the season, just 1.42 per game. In his UConn career, he has started 37-straight games over three seasons.
The recipient of the 2023 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN in December. The official presentation to the winner will be made at the Outland Trophy Awards Dinner sponsored by Werner Enterprises and produced by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 10, 2024.
The Outland Trophy, celebrating 78 years since its founding, is the third-oldest major college football award. Created in 1946 when Dr. John Outland presented the FWAA with a financial contribution to initiate the award, the Outland Trophy has been given to the best interior lineman in college football ever since. Dr. Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s, eventually took up practice in Kansas City, Mo. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed linemen did not get the credit they deserved and wanted an award to recognize them.
The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football's most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.
