More Trojans on preseason national watch lists

It's preseason watch list time across college football. Essentially, they're who's who lists of the top players at various positions or in various categories that will eventually get whittled down as the season plays out.

Whatever stock one puts in such lists, it is part of the annual rollout to college football season and it's better to be represented than not.

Last Monday, USC landed two of its biggest stars on a couple of the more notable watchlists, with quarterback Kedon Slovis among the 80 names on the radar for the Maxwell Award -- college football player of the year -- and outside linebacker Drake Jackson is one of 90 preseason candidates for the Bednarik Award, which is presented to college football's best defensive player.

On Tuesday, Slovis was also named to the watch list for the Davey O'Brien Award, which honors the top college QB.

On Wednesday, running backs Keaontay Ingram and Vavae Malepeai were included on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, which honors the top FBS receiver regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, running back).

On Thursday, it was wide receivers Drake London and Tahj Washington announced to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, which honors college football's top receiver regardless of position. Given that the schools nominate the players, it's notable that Washington -- the transfer from Memphis -- was one of the two receivers pushed from USC. One could take that as a reflection of the Trojans' expectations for the newcomer, especially considering the follow-up tweet from the USC Athletics account (see below).

And this Monday, two more were announced with junior cornerback Chris Steele one of 40 defensive backs selected for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award watch list, and Jackson adding another honor in being one of 51 linebackers named to the Butkus Award watch list.

The preseason honors will continue to pour in over the coming weeks, including the All-Pac-12 preseason teams that will be announced next week at Pac-12 Media Day in Los Angeles.