Ole Miss’ Haynes, Patterson named to Bednarik, Maxwell Award Watch Lists

Sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson and senior defensive end Marquis Haynes earned preseason recognition Monday as they were named to prestigious award watch lists.

Shea Patterson led the Rebels to victory in his first collegiate start. (Photo credit: Dan Anderson, The Rebel Walk)

Patterson started three games last season—the most in history by an Ole Miss true freshman — and makes his appearance on the Maxwell Award Watch List. The Maxwell Award goes to the most outstanding collegiate football player at the end of the season. (2017 Maxwell Award Watch List)

Despite only playing in three games in the 2016 season, following Chad Kelly’s season-ending injury, Patterson completed 54.5 percent (72 for 132) of his passes for 880 yards and six touchdowns and also rushed for 169 yards. In his collegiate debut, he led the Rebels to a come-from-behind 29-28 victory at Texas A&M.

On the defensive side, Haynes has been named to the Bednarik Award Watch List. The Bednarik Award goes to the best defensive collegiate football player at the end of the season. (2017 Bednarik Award Watch List)

Haynes enters his final season as a Rebel with 24.5 career sacks on his resume, ranking him third in school history. His 36.5 tackles for loss rank the standout defensive end fourth all-time at Ole Miss.

Marquis Haynes was named the 2017 winner of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award.

Before Monday, Haynes had already received preseason recognition with a third-team selection to Athlon Sports Preseason All-American team, as well as an appearance on this year’s Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List. At the end of spring practices, Haynes won the cherished Chucky Mullins Courage Award and will wear No. 38 in Mullins’ honor.

Haynes will be one of the primary leaders on defense for the Rebels after the departures of edge rushers John Youngblood and Fadol Brown.

Patterson will represent Ole Miss at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama this Thursday, July 13. He will be joined by defensive tackle Breeland Speaks and offensive lineman Javon Patterson.

Courtney Smith

Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men’s basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.