Rutgers Football’s Janarion Grant named to Hornung Award Watch List

For the second time in a week, Janarion Grant has been named to an award’s preseason watch list.

Rutgers wide receiver and return specialist Janarion Grant was named to the Paul Hornung Award preseason watch list, it was announced Monday. This marks the second watch list for Grant who was cited in the preseason for the Maxwell Award last week.

The Paul Hornung Award, presented by Texas Roadhouse, is given annually by the Louisville Sports Commission (LSC) to the most versatile player in major college football.

The various awards doled out recognize various talents and skills. The Hornung, in looking at a player’s versatility, is right in Grant’s wheelhouse. The fifth-year senior returns as the nation’s active career leader in combined punt and kick return yardage with 3,086.

In the first four games of 2016, he accounted for six total touchdowns, including a passing score. A three-time Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, Grant scored both a kick and punt return touchdown in 2016.

In 42 consecutive game appearances, Grant has amassed 270 rushing yards and 895 receiving. He is fourth all-time in the Rutgers record books with 4,251 all-purpose yards and first with 2,606 kickoff return yards. Grant is tied for first in NCAA FBS history with eight career combined kick return touchdowns (five kickoff, three punt).

There are 46 players on this season’s Hornung Watch List. the list includes one graduate student, 23 seniors, 19 juniors, and three sophomores who play a total of nine different positions. The award will be presented on March 8 of next year at the Louisville Sports Commission’s banquet.

Other Big Ten players on the list are Parris Campbell (Ohio State), DJ Moore (Maryland), Devonte Williams (Indiana), and De’Mornay Pierson-El (Nebraska).