MISSOULA — It’s been a decade since a non-quarterback has won the Walter Payton Award, annually bestowed upon the FCS offensive player of the year.
Can the streak be broken this year?
“I tell you what, Michael Wortham is right in the conversation,” said Craig Haley, the FCS senior editor at Stats Perform.
Wortham, Montana’s do-everything star, leads the nation in all-purpose production at 178.75 yards per game. Of the eight players atop the FCS leaderboard, Wortham is the only wide receiver; the rest are running backs.
“He certainly resonates well with me,” Haley said. “I do think he has an excellent shot. It’s been an award that’s quarterback-driven in recent years, but he’s right in the conversation.”
Montana State QB Tommy Mellott won the award last year and South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski won it in 2023. The last non-QB to win the award was legendary Eastern Washington receiver Cooper Kupp in 2015.
Haley pointed to four QBs this season who figure to be in the mix with the required caveats: There are still four weeks remaining in the regular season, and injuries certainly play a factor.
But he identified signal-callers Cole Payton of North Dakota State, Beau Brungard of Youngstown State, Taron Dickens of Western Carolina and Derek Robertson of Monmouth as guys having seasons worthy of consideration.
Brungard leads the FCS in total offense (358.2 yards per game) and already has 991 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing. Robertson has passed for 2,482 yards and 27 touchdowns, both tops in the FCS despite missing last week’s game with an injury. He’s considered week-to-week.
Dickens missed the start of the season but has already thrown for 1,976 yards and 22 touchdowns in just five games. And Payton averages 302.5 yards of total offense per game for the No. 1 team in the country.
Wortham has his case, too, as a versatile playmaker on one of the best offenses in the FCS.
He leads the Griz in receiving with 690 yards and six touchdowns, is second on the team in rushing with 223 yards and five more TDs and has also thrown a touchdown pass. He’s added 445 yards on 16 kick returns, as well.
Perhaps hurting Wortham’s case, though, is the shared production at Montana. Quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat ranks third in the FCS in passing with 2,238 yards and 17 touchdowns, and running back Eli Gillman is one of the top rushers in the country with 843 yards and 12 TDs.
“It is spread out very well in Montana — Keali’i Ah Yat and Eli Gillman right there with Michael Wortham,” Haley said. “At least two of them will probably be finalists for the Walter Payton Award, I would assume. Usually, you don’t see three finalists (from the same team), but how do you separate them at this point?
“I would say Wortham has made himself No. 1 in the pecking order, but Ah Yat and Gillman are having outstanding years, and especially Ah Yat’s come on strong after Eli started so well, so all three of them are just among the elite offensive players in the nation.”
The 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award will be announced on Nov. 22, and the top three vote-getters will be invited to the national ceremony Jan. 3, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn., the host city for the 2025 FCS championship game.
