Drew Mestemaker has been through this before.
The Oklahoma State quarterback won the 2025 Burlsworth Trophy at North Texas, and his name is back on the semifinalist list this fall.
The selection committee named 10 Burlsworth Trophy semifinalists. Mestemaker’s the only one in the group who’s already won it.
He threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns at North Texas in 2025. Not bad for a guy who played safety in high school and never started a varsity game at quarterback.
You don’t see that path very often. Mestemaker went from the secondary to throwing for more than 4,000 yards, and nobody handed him a scholarship to do it.
These days he’s a redshirt sophomore in Stillwater. The other nine players on this list will have to get past last year’s winner.
The award goes to the best player in college football who began his career as a walk-on. That means he didn’t get any athletic scholarship money when he first got to campus.
Who else made the cut
Sixty-five players from FBS programs were nominated. The committee got that down to 10, and no school landed more than one player.
Three receivers made it. Baylor’s Gavin Freeman and Florida Atlantic’s Easton Messer are both redshirt seniors, while Notre Dame’s Jordan Faison is a senior.
Running back has three spots too, with USC’s King Miller, Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop and Iowa State’s Aiden Flora. Flora also returns kicks and punts for the Cyclones.
Houston’s Anthony Boswell and Indiana’s Drew Evans give the offensive line two players on the list. North Carolina sophomore Xavier Lewis is a defensive lineman and the only defender in the group.
| School | Player | Class | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor | Gavin Freeman | RS-SR | WR |
| Florida Atlantic | Easton Messer | RS-SR | WR/PR |
| Houston | Anthony Boswell | RS-Soph | OL |
| Indiana | Drew Evans | RS-SR | OL |
| Iowa State | Aiden Flora | Soph | RB/KR/PR |
| North Carolina | Xavier Lewis | Soph | DL |
| Notre Dame | Jordan Faison | SR | WR |
| Oklahoma State | Drew Mestemaker | RS-Soph | QB |
| USC | King Miller | RS-Soph | RB |
| Tennessee | DeSean Bishop | SR | RB |
On Nov. 17, the list gets cut to three finalists. Those players and their families will be honored at the award show Monday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. CST.
The show will be held at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. That’s where the 2026 winner will be named.
Why it’s named for a Razorback
Brandon Burlsworth showed up at Arkansas as a walk-on in 1994. Not one Division I school had offered him a scholarship.
He earned one with the Razorbacks anyway. He started three years for the Hogs and was named an All-American in 1998.
The Indianapolis Colts drafted him in 1999 with the 63rd overall pick. Eleven days later, he was killed in a car accident.
His life story became the movie “Greater,” which was released nationally in 2016. The Brandon Burlsworth Foundationcarries on his name by helping with the physical and spiritual needs of kids, especially those who don’t have many opportunities.
This is the 17th year for the award. It’s a member of the National College Football Awards Association and is part of ESPN’s College Football Awards programming every year.
For Mestemaker, the next step comes Nov. 17. That’s when he’ll find out if he’s one of the three still standing.
