Kansas State senior Will Howard was one of 35 quarterbacks in the nation to be named to the initial watch list for the 2023 Davey O'Brien Award, the Davey O'Brien Foundation announced.

Howard is the first Wildcat candidate for the award that goes to the nation's best quarterback since Jesse Ertz was a preseason candidate in 2017. Other previous K-State signal callers to be up for the award include Chad May (1994 finalist), Matt Miller (1995 finalist), Michael Bishop (1998 winner), Collin Klein (2012 finalist) and Jake Waters (2014 semifinalist).

A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Howard was also named to the watch lists for the Maxwell Award and Wuerffel Trophy last week.

Howard broke out over the second half of the 2022 season as he led Kansas State to a Big 12 Championship with a 31-28 overtime victory over No. 3 TCU in the title game. Howard enters the 2023 campaign ranked eighth in school history in career passing yards per game (142.9), and 10th in both career passing efficiency (130.9) and career touchdowns responsible for (34). He is also one passing touchdown shy of tying for 10th in school history for a career, while he needs 1,258 passing yards to enter the school's career top-10 list.

Howard threw for 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions on 119-of-199 aim last season as he ranked eighth in school history with a 149.6 passer rating. He recorded multiple touchdown passes in six-straight games, the longest streak ever by a Wildcat in a single season. Included in that stretch was a school-record tying four touchdown passes in a 48-0 victory over Oklahoma State, a game in which he also set career highs in passing yards (296) and completions (21).

K-State is in its second week of preseason camp prior to the 2023 season kicking off on September 2 with a 6 p.m., contest against SEMO inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.