Eastern Illinois running back
MJ Flowers has been voted the runner-up for the 2023 Jerry Rice Award announced today by STATS Perform. The Jerry Rice Award, presented by FedEx Ground, is presented to the nation's top FCS player.
The 2023 winner of the award was Montana running back Eli Gillman with Flowers second in the voting among the 22 finalists for the award.
Flowers is the first EIU player to be named a finalist for the prestigious national award.
Flowers helped power Eastern Illinois to an 8-3 season as the Panthers posted one of the best turnarounds in the FCS this season ending the year ranked No. 24 in the FCS polls and listed as one of the first four out in this year's FCS playoff field.
The redshirt freshman rushed for 854 yards this season which ranked second among FCS freshman running backs. He posted a pair of 200-yard rushing games and ended with another monster effort in the final regular season win at Robert Morris. In addition, he was talented pass catcher out of the backfield finishing second in the nation among FCS freshman with 1,046 all-purpose yards.
The Jerry Rice Award's rich history of recipients includes Cooper Kupp, Chase Edmonds, Trey Lance and Shedeur Sanders. To be eligible for the award, a player must be considered a freshman athletically by his conference in his first or second academic year.
2023 Jerry Rice Award Voting Results
Following is a breakdown of the voting results. 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. Eli Gillman, RB, Montana: 31-6-6-2-2-203
2. MJ Flowers, RB, Eastern Illinois: 6-11-6-10-7-119
3. Jawarn Howell, RB, South Carolina State: 6-6-2-10-1-81
4. Tye Niekamp, LB, Illinois State: 3-6-8-3-6-75
5. Griffin Woodell, RB, UAlbany: 3-4-8-5-2-67
6. Conner Moore, LT, Montana State: 2-3-6-6-6-58
7. Jaylen King, QB, Gardner-Webb, QB: 2-6-4-3-5-57
8. Carter Glassmyer, LB, Saint Francis: 0-5-4-6-9-53
9. Beau Sparks, WR, Utah Tech: 1-3-4-3-7-42
10. VJ Wilkins, WR, Campbell: 0-3-1-0-1-16
11.(tie) Hunter Green, PK/P, Northern Colorado: 0-0-2-2-4-14
11.(tie) Malachi Hosley, RB, Penn: 0-3-0-1-0-14
13. Jaylon Joseph, DE, Lafayette: 0-0-3-1-2-13
14. Anthony Johnson, WR, Stony Brook: 1-0-1-1-1-11
15.(tie) Dom Nankil, QB, San Diego: 1-0-0-0-1-6
15.(tie) Ty'Jarian Williams, QB, Mississippi Valley State: 0-0-1-1-1-6
17. Owen Zalc, PK, Dartmouth: 0-0-0-1-1-3
18. Brendan Jenkins, WR, Samford: 0-0-0-1-0-2
19.(tie) Gavin Lochow, WR, Dayton: 0-0-0-0-0-0
19.(tie) Rasheed Lovelace, DT, Nicholls: 0-0-0-0-0-0
19.(tie) Aaron Sears, CB, Stephen F. Austin: 0-0-0-0-0-0
19.(tie) Luke Yoder, RB, Lehigh: 0-0-0-0-0-0
