The Maxwell Football Club has released the first two of its watch lists for two of the most prestigious individual awards in college football.

The Maxwell Award recognizes the best overall player in the sport while the Bednarik Award does the same for defensive players. Since both reigning winners were drafted this year, there will not be a repeat winner.

There are 76 offensive players up for the Maxwell Award watch list, here are the top 5 contenders. Click here to see the full list.

1.     Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State: the reigning Heisman Trophy winner should be considered the favorite for this award.

2.     Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA: after returning for at least one more season he could well end up on the Heisman Watch List.

3.     T.J. Yeldon, RB, Alabama: with Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and now Yeldon, Alabama has proven to be an elite tailback-producing program.

4.     Marcus Mariota, Oregon: his team's offense is designed to put up huge points and it could help him build on a terrific 2013 season.

5.     Braxton Miller, Ohio State: he also could be poised for a huge season after passing up the NFL Draft to return to a potential powerhouse team.

For the Bednarik Award, which has only been around since 1995, but past winners have produced some of the best NFL defensive players in recent memory. Award holders include Charles Woodson, Julius Peppers, Ndamukong Suh and two-time winner Paul Posluszny.

Here are the top five contenders this year, according to Bleacher Report, click here to see the full list.

1.     Leonard Williams, DL, USC: he admitted to Fox Sports he was not totally healthy last year, but was still an imposing lineman.

2.     Vernon Hargreaves III, CB, Florida: as a rising sophomore, expect him to build on an impressive freshman season.

3.     Devonte Fields, DE, TCU: he also dealt with some injuries last season as a sophomore, but his numbers as a freshman the year before are enough to put some fear in the hearts of the Big 12's passers.

4.     Myles Jack, LB, UCLA: as his team continues to try and steal away the "Linebacker U" moniker from Penn State, the two-way player will apparently shift his focus more toward the defensive side of the football.

5.     Vic Beasley, DE, Clemson: he showed highly promising signs as an overall disruption to opposing offenses and will try to get even better as a rising senior.