Wood named to Rimington Spring Watch List

03:44 PM EDT on Friday, May 19, 2006

Sophomore center Eric Wood (Cincinnati, Ohio) of the University of Louisville was named to The Dave Rimington Trophy spring watch list of top collegiate centers for the 2006 season. This season marks the seventh year of the Rimington Trophy recognizing the most outstanding center in college football and the first as a Regular Member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA).

Wood started 12 games for the Cardinals last season and was a big surprise on the offensive front. Wood was a Rivals.com All-American in leading the Cardinals to a 9-3 record.

The spring watch list consists of thirty-nine of college football?s top men in the middle and will be updated once prior to the beginning of the season. Five sophomores, eleven juniors and twenty-three seniors make up the very strong field.

?With only one returning finalist (Dan Mozes, West Virginia) from last season the competition will be wide open which will certainly make for an exciting race. Center is a very difficult position to evaluate and of course play so I wish all of the candidates and their respective teams a successful season?, said Dave Rimington

2005 Rimington Trophy winner Greg Eslinger, Minnesota was a sixth round draft pick of the Denver Broncos and is expected to be a big contributor on the Broncos offensive line. In addition 2005 marked the inaugural presentation of the President Gerald R. Ford Legends of Center Award, accepted on behalf of President Ford by John Cappelletti (1973 Heisman Trophy Winner, Penn State University) at the annual Rimington Trophy banquet.

Canon, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, USA and Black & Decker present the 7-year-old trophy. The Boomer Esiason Foundation hosts the award. Minnesota?s Greg Eslinger, Michigan?s David Baas (2004 co-winner), LSU?s Ben Wilkerson (2004 co-winner), Virginia Tech?s Jake Grove, Miami?s Brett Romberg, Ohio State?s LeCharles Bentley, and Nebraska?s Dominic Raiola are past recipients.

Esiason created his foundation in 1993 to support research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. Esiason and Dave Rimington were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals from 1984-87. Rimington, the award?s namesake, was a consensus first team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982 during which he became the John Outland Trophy?s only double winner as the nation?s premiere college interior lineman.

The winner is selected by determining the consensus All-American center pick from four existing All America Teams including:

American Football Coaches Association

Walter Camp Foundation

Sporting News

Football Writers Association of America

Because the selectors of these four All-America teams can place centers in a ?mix? of offensive linemen that includes guards and tackles, their 11-man first teams can often have two centers. Our policy is to count all players that play primarily the center position for their respective teams as centers, even though they maybe listed as guards or tackles on the four All American teams.

The center with the most first team votes will be determined the winner. If there is a tie with first-team votes, then the center with most second-team votes will win. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the center with most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by the Rimington Trophy committee.

The winner will be honored at the awards banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska, in January of 2007.

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I'll pick Mozes.