YSU's Beau Brungard, Taron Dickens, NDSU's Cole Payton Invited to Announcement
The Walter Payton Award is presented to the FCS national offensive player of the year. Three of the 30 finalists have been invited to the announcement at the 2025 Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show.

Quarterbacks Beau Brungard of Youngstown State, Taron Dickens of Western Carolina and Cole Payton of North Dakota State have been invited to the announcement of the 2025 Walter Payton Award, which will be presented to the national offensive player of the year in FCS college football.

The trio have emerged from 30 finalists across 13 FCS conferences for the 39th annual Walter Payton Award, which is affectionately known as the Heisman of the FCS. The recipient, selected after the regular season by a 56-member voting panel, will be announced at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show on Jan. 3 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Brungard, a 6-foot, 215-pound junior from New Middletown, Ohio, received the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s offensive player of the year award. He ranked No. 1 in the FCS regular season in touchdowns responsible for (48 via 23 passing, 24 rushing and one receiving) and No. 2 in total offensive yards per game (357.9). He became the 16th player in FCS history (across 17 times) to surpass 2,000 passing yards (2,917) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,378) in the same season. He accounted for 407 more yards and six touchdowns in a playoff loss to Yale this past Saturday.

Payton, a 6-3, 233-pound senior from Omaha, Nebraska, has helped defending FCS champion North Dakota State to a 12-0 record, the MVFC championship and the No. 1 seed in the national playoffs. In 12 regular-season games, his 197.4 pass efficiency rating ranked No. 1 in the FCS, and he was No. 2 in completion percentage (74.1). He was ninth in total offensive yards per game (294.1) and combined on 28 passing and rushing touchdowns.

The Payton Award is named for legendary running back Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson State as part of his Hall of Fame career. Its past recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Taylor Heinicke, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp and Trey Lance.

2025 Walter Payton Award Voting
Following is a breakdown of the voting results (top three to be announced on Jan. 3). A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point. The final number is the combined point total.

1, 2, 3 TBA (Jan. 3) between Beau Brungard, Taron Dickens and Cole Payton
4. Joshua Dye, Southern Utah: 1-6-11-12-6-92
5. Braden Atkinson, Mercer: 2-5-1-5-5-48
6. Rodney Nelson, Monmouth: 1-4-2-6-5-44
7. Justin Lamson, Montana State: 1-2-7-1-4-40
8. DJ Williams, Southern Illinois: 1-2-4-4-1-34
9. Keali’I Ah Yat, Montana: 0-1-6-2-4-30
10. Chris Parson, Austin Peay: 1-2-1-2-3-23
11. Luke Yoder, Lehigh: 1-0-4-2-0-21
12 Bryce Lance, North Dakota State: 0-2-0-2-3-15
13. Kekoa Visperas, Tennessee Tech: 2-0-1-0-1-14
14. Marquis Gillis, Delaware State: 0-2-0-1-0-10
15. Kente Edwards, Lafayette: 1-0-0-1-1-8
T16. Andrew Body, Alabama State: 0-1-0-1-1-7
T16. L.J. Phillips Jr. South Dakota: 0-0-1-1-2-7


2025 Buck Buchanan Award Voting
The Buck Buchanan Award is named for legendary defensive lineman Junious “Buck” Buchanan, who starred at Grambling State as part of his Hall of Fame career. Past recipients include Dexter Coakley, Rashean Mathis, Jared Allen and Arthur Moats.

Following is a breakdown of the voting results (top three to be announced on Jan. 3). A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point. The final number is the combined point total.

1, 2, 3 TBA (Jan. 3) between James Conway, Joshua Stoneking and Andrew Zock
4. Caden Dowler, Montana State: 5-3-4-5-6-65
5. Lando Brown, Southern Utah: 2-5-5-7-1-60
6. A.J. Pena, Rhode Island: 5-1-4-7-3-58
7. Kaleb Proctor, Southeastern Louisiana: 5-1-4-4-0-49
8. Tye Niekamp, Illinois State: 4-3-2-1-2-42
9. Maximum Pulley, Wofford: 2-2-1-3-5-32
10. Erick Hunter, Morgan State: 1-2-3-1-2-26
11. Tyler Ochojski, Lehigh: 0-3-1-2-4-23
12. David Hoage, West Georgia: 1-1-1-3-3-21
13. Kimal Clark, Indiana State: 1-1-1-3-1-19
14. Logan Kopp, North Dakota State: 0-2-1-2-2-17
15. Abu Kamara, Yale: 0-1-3-0-2-15
16. Sean Allison, Drake: 1-0-1-2-1-13
T17: Luke Banbury, William & Mary: 1-1-0-1-1-12
T17. Theron Gaines, Tennessee Tech: 0-0-3-0-3-12

The Buck Buchanan Award, Walter Payton Award (FCS Offensive Player of the Year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year), HBCU National Player of the Year and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be presented at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show