2026 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List Spotlights College Football’s Top Receivers

The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the college football season’s outstanding FBS receiver. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slotback, and running back), who catches a pass is eligible for the award. As such, the Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football’s outstanding receiver, not merely college football’s outstanding wide receiver. Tight end Kyle Pitts was a finalist in 2020, and other tight ends were semifinalists in prior and subsequent years. Moreover, the Biletnikoff Award is a single-season, not career, award.

The Biletnikoff Award’s semifinalists, three finalists, and award recipient are selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of 625 prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, Biletnikoff Award winners, and other former receivers. Foundation trustees do not vote and have never voted. For a list of voters, please see BiletnikoffAward.com/voters.

Receivers are frequently added to the watch list as their season performances dictate. Actual, not potential, performance is the basis for inclusion on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.

The Biletnikoff Award candidate eligibility and voting criteria, transparently explicit and detailed, are available for review at BiletnikoffAward.com/criteria.

2025 Biletnikoff Award winner Makai Lemon of USC

The banquet has featured distinguished keynoters of profound character and accomplishments including the late Bart Starr, Dick Vermeil, the late Floyd Little, Larry Csonka, Steve Largent, Mike Ditka, the late Don Shula, the late Dan Reeves, Archie Manning, Ron Jaworski, Gene Stallings, Bob Griese, Bill Curry, the late Bobby Bowden, Jim Kelly, Jerry Kramer, Joe Theismann, Dan Fouts, Chad Hennings, the late Lou Holtz, Aaron Taylor, Archie Griffin, Danny Wuerffel, Rocket Ismail, Drew Pearson, and Gino Torretta.

The 501(c)(3) TQC Foundation’s charitable mission is the provision of college and vocational scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant challenges to achieve at the highest academic and extracurricular levels. Participation in sports is not a requirement, but does count as an extracurricular activity. The all-volunteer Foundation has provided over 360 scholarships with benefits of over 7 million dollars through 2026. TQC Founding Trustee & many-time chairman Walter Manley II, serving his 30th year as fundraising chairman, recently announced a goal of 10 million dollars in the aggregate to be awarded in scholarships by 2030.

2026 Scholarship Recipients

2025 Scholarship Recipients

Fred Biletnikoff was Florida State’s first consensus 1st-Team All-America

The AP All-Time All-America college football team features some of the most dominant Biletnikoff Award legends to ever play the game: First Team – Randy Moss (1997 winner), Larry Fitzgerald (2003 winner), and Brock Bowers (2022-23 semifinalist). Second Team – DeVonta Smith (2020 winner) and Tim Brown (BA voter). Congrats to these outstanding receivers!