Louisville star RB Isaac Brown earns spot on prestigious preseason watch list

College football is quickly approaching, and the Louisville Cardinals are getting a decent amount of recognition this offseason. Louisville football had a busy offseason, as Jeff Brohm added over 32 transfers from the Transfer Portal and earned a top-five portal class in the nation.

The Cardinals have high expectations for this upcoming season, and the main reason isn’t the players they brought in but the key players returning. The running back room continues to get a lot of praise, as it was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation.

The star of the group is the junior, Isaac Brown, and earlier Monday morning, Louisville fans and Brown learned he was named to the Maxwell Award Watch List.

Isaac Brown named to Maxwell Award Watch List

Brown is expected to be a major piece for Louisville this upcoming season, as he continues to be one of the top running backs in college football.  The Maxwell Football Club announced its watch list for this prestigious award leading up to the 2026 season.

The Maxwell Award is presented every year to the most outstanding player in college football and has been given to the player of the year since 1937. The award is named after Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, who was a well-known sportswriter and a star at Swarthmore College.

The list consists of 81 players, including 11 from the ACC and 30 running backs. Other notable ACC players on this preseason watch list include Miami’s star quarterback Darian Mensah Jr, star wide receiver Malachi Toney, and their running back Mark Fletcher Jr. On the list of players Louisville will face this upcoming season are North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey Jr., Pitt’s QB Mason Heintschel, So., SMU’s QB Kevin Jennings, Georgia Tech’s running back Justice Haynes, Sr., Florida State wide receiver Duce Robinson, Sr., and Ole Miss QB, Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.

Brown’s 2025 season was shortened because of injuries, but the Cardinals star running back had a dominant year when he played. In just 101 carries, Brown averaged an impressive 8.8 yards per carry and finished the year with 884 yards and seven touchdowns.

Then, in his true freshman season, Brown had a historic year, breaking the program's true-freshman rushing record with 1,173 yards and tying Lamar Jackson’s freshman record with five games of 100 rushing yards or more. Brown finished the year averaging a dominant 7.1 yards per carry and winning the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year and the ACC Rookie of the Year.

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