Kennesaw State quarterback Chandler Burks was named to the preseason watch list for the 2018 Walter Payton award.

Burks, from Douglasville, was a finalist for last season’s Walter Payton Award which is given annually to the most impressive offensive player in the Division I- Football Championship Subdivision of college football.

The winner is determined by a national panel of media and college sports information directors.

Earning Big South Offensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors last year, Burks finished his junior season with the Owls rushing for 1,103 yards and 18 touchdowns and passing for 1,307 yards and nine touchdowns with three interceptions— becoming the first Kennesaw State player to rush and pass for over 1,000 in a single season.

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Kennesaw State guard Simeon Cottle shoots a technical foul shot during the second half of a game against South Florida Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Kennesaw State University. (Daniel Varnado/For the AJC))

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

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