CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall has been a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award for the last two seasons. So, it is not a surprise that he is one of 35 quarterbacks on the preseason watch list for the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award.
Last season, McCall set a new NCAA Division I FBS record in passing efficiency rating at 207.6 last season in 2021, eclipsing the previous two records set by Alabama’s Mac Jones (203.1) in 2020 and LSU’s Joe Burrow (202.0) in 2019. He enters the 2022 season as the active career leader in all of NCAA Division I FBS in career passing efficiency at 196.09.
In all, 12 of last year’s 16 semifinalists return. The group includes the 2021 winner Bryce Young of Alabama and 2021 finalist C.J. Stroud of Ohio, as well as Brennan Armstrong of Virginia, Georgia’s Stetson Bennett, Jake Haener of Fresno State, UTSA’s Frank Harris, Sam Hartman of Wake Forest, Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, SMU’s Tanner Mordecai, Will Rogers of Mississippi State, USC’s Caleb Williams, and McCall.
The 2021 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy winner, presented to the best player in the state of South Carolina, McCall ranked in the top 25 in all of NCAA Division I FBS in 2021 in several offensive categories including - passing efficiency (207.6), yards per pass attempt (11.92), completion percentage (73.0), passing yards per completion (16.32), points responsible for per game (17.6), passing touchdowns (27), passing yards per game (261.2), total offense per game (287.5), and points responsible for (194).
Having gone 20-2 over the last two years as Coastal’s starting quarterback, McCall is a two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Award winner, a two-time All-Sun Belt first-team selection, and a two-time semifinalist for the Maxwell Award (2020 and 2021). He was also a top-10 finalist for the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award last season after being named a finalist for the Manning Award in 2020.
