Pay selected to the Rimington Trophy watchlist for a second year

NEW YORK — BYU center Connor Pay was named Friday to the 2023 Rimington Trophy preseason watchlist. The prestigious trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football.

The Rimington Trophy committee worked closely with Pro Football Focus to narrow down its preseason watch list to the top 40 centers in Division I football, based on nominations from the schools and extensive data from previous seasons provide by PFF.

Pay, from Highland, Utah, was recently named to the 2023 PFF Preseason All-Big 12 Third Team and the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big 12 Fourth Team. The 6-5, 305-pound sophomore started 12 of 13 games for the Cougars in 2022, was a candidate for the Rimington Trophy and was named College Network All-Independent First Team. 

As a Covid freshman in 2021, Pay earned a starting role at right guard for the Cougars, before taking over the center position the final five games of the season for injured starter James Empey. At the conclusion of the 2021 season, the BYU offensive line was named Pro Football Network Offensive Line of the Year, allowing just 15 total sacks all year. Pay has played in 25 of 26 games with 23 starts over the past two seasons.

Pay holds a 3.78 GPA in entrepreneurial management and was named CSC Academic All-District in November 2022.

The Rimington Trophy is named after Dave Rimington, a two-time Consensus All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982. As a junior and senior, Rimington became the only two-time winner of the John Outland Trophy, presented annually to college football’s top interior lineman.

At the conclusion of the 2023 season, the Rimington Trophy committee will use three prestigious All-America teams to determine a winner—Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and Football Writers Association of America. The center with the most first-team All-America votes will be awarded the Trophy.

The Rimington Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes many of college football’s most prestigious awards. The recipient of the 2023 Rimington Trophy will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards show on ESPN in December. 

Rimington Trophy preseason Watch List