2016 Nominees
| School | Class | Player | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | Jr | Baker Mayfield | QB | WINNER |
| Northwestern | Sr | Austin Carr | WR | Finalist |
| Washington State | Jr | Luke Falk | QB | Finalist |
| Arkansas | Sr | Toby Baker | P | Semi-Finalist |
| Indiana | Sr | Mitchell Paige | WR/RS | Semi-Finalist |
| Iowa State | Jr | Trever Ryen | WR/PR | Semi-Finalist |
| LSU | Jr | John David (J.D.) Moore | FB | Semi-Finalist |
| Nebraska | Sr | Dylan Utter | C | Semi-Finalist |
| Temple | Sr | Haason Reddick | DL | Semi-Finalist |
| Wisconsin | Sr | Dare Ogunbowale | RB | Semi-Finalist |
| Arizona State | Jr | Mitchell Fraboni | LS | |
| Arkansas State | Jr | Johnston White | RB | |
| Bowling Green | Sr | Trent Greene | LB | |
| BYU | Sr | Parker Dawe | OL | |
| Clemson | Soph | Greg Huegel | PK | |
| Colorado State | Jr | Jakob Buys | DL | |
| Connecticut | Sr | Justin Wain | P | |
| Eastern Michigan | Soph | Blake Banham | RB/KR | |
| Florida | Sr | Mark Herndon | RB | |
| Florida Atlantic | Jr | Nate Ozdemir | LB | |
| Houston | Jr | Dillon Birden | RB | |
| Iowa | Sr | Riley McCarron | WR | |
| Kansas State | Jr | Nick Walsh | P | |
| Kent State | Sr | Nick Cuthbert | LB | |
| Marshall | Sr | Cody Carter | S | |
| Memphis | Jr | Anthony Miller | WR | |
| Miami | Sr | Justin Vogel | P | |
| Middle Tennessee | Sr | Steven Rhodes | DE | |
| Mississippi | Sr | Carlos Davis | CB/RS | |
| Nevada | Sr | Jeremy Macauley | OL | |
| New Mexico | Jr | Jake Rothschiller | DB | |
| North Carolina | Sr | Nick Weiler | PK | |
| Old Dominion | Sr | TJ Ricks | LB | |
| Oregon State | Sr | Devin Chappell | S | |
| Rice | Sr | Zach Wright | WR | |
| San Diego State | Sr | Daniel Brunskill | OT | |
| San Jose State | Sr | Tim Crawley | WR/KR | |
| SMU | Sr | Jackson Mitchell | LB | |
| South Carolina | Soph | Hayden Hurst | TE | |
| Southern California | Sr | Zach Smith | LS | |
| Stanford | Sr | Conrad Ukropina | PK | |
| Tennessee | Jr | Colton Jumper | LB | |
| Texas | Sr | Dylan Haines | S | |
| Texas A & M | Jr | Shane Tripucka | P | |
| Toledo | Jr | Jack Linch | LB | |
| Tulsa | Sr | Dalton Parks | P | |
| UCLA | Sr | Mike Lafaul | QB | |
| Utah State | Sr | Austin Albrecht | OT | |
| Virginia Tech | Sr | Sam Rogers | FB | |
| Wake Forest | Jr | Grant Dawson | IBL | |
| Western Kentucky | Sr | Max Halpin | C | |
| Western Michigan | Sr | Trevor Sweeney | WR |