IU Wide Receivers Ricky Jones and Simmie Cobbs Land on Biletkinoff Watch List

IU Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana wide receivers Simmie Cobbs, Jr., andRicky Jones were selected to the 2016 Biletnikoff Award Watch List, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club (TQC) Foundation, Inc., announced today. The Hoosiers are one of two Big Ten teams (Nebraska) and seven Power Five teams with multiple wideouts on the list.

The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football. Any player, regardless of position (wide receiver, tight end, slot back, and running back) who catches a pass is eligible for the award.

Cobbs, a junior, is also on the 2016 Maxwell Award Watch List after he collected 1,035 yards (3rd in the Big Ten) with 60 receptions (8th) and four touchdowns in 2015. He became the sixth Hoosier with a 1,000-yard season and ranks sixth all-time in program history. An honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, Cobbs averaged 79.6 yards (3rd), 4.6 receptions per game (9th) and 17.2 yards per catch (3rd).

The Oak Park, Ill., native led the Hoosiers in receptions, yards, yards per game, catches per game and yards per grab. Cobbs posted four 100-yard games, which shared third in the conference and fifth on Indiana's all-time list.

In league games only, he finished first with 18.1 yards per catch, second with 670 yards and 83.8 per game, and tied for ninth with 37 receptions and 4.6 per game. Cobbs led the team in catches five times (twice with game-high honors) and yardage six times (thrice).

He finished second in the Big Ten in 20-plus yard (20; T-9th nationally) and 30-plus yard (11; T-14th nationally) receptions, and tied for third in 40-plus yarders (4). A three-time IU offensive player of the week a season ago, Cobbs set career-highs with nine catches for 192 yards in the win at Maryland. The 192 yards were the second-most in the Big Ten and the eighth-most in school history.

Jones, a fifth-year senior, appears on the Watch List for the second consecutive season. He ended 2015 second on the team with 906 yards (6th in the Big Ten) and five touchdowns (T-11th), and was third with 54 receptions (13th). The 906 yards rank ninth on IU's single-season list.

A Sarasota, Fla., native, Jones was second on the Hoosiers with 16.8 yards per catch (4th in the Big Ten) and 69.7 yards per game, and third with 4.2 receptions per game. Jones collected three 100-yard games, reached 80 yards four times and caught at least five passes six times.

He led the team in catches six times (twice with game-high honors) and yardage three times (twice). Jones set career-highs in receptions (6) and yardage (186), and pulled in his career-long catch (71 yards) and his first TD, a 57-yarder, in the Southern Illinois win. His 186 yards rank 10th on the program's single-game list.


The 2016 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on Dec. 8, 2016, on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be broadcast 7-9 p.m. (EST) on ESPN. The winner will be presented his trophy before 550 patrons at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017.

The banquet also recognizes the Foundation's scholarship recipients who will be offered by the Foundation over $800,000 in college and vocational scholarships and related benefits in 2017 alone, as in 2015 and 2016. The Foundation's charitable mission is the provision of college and vocational scholarships to North Florida high school seniors who have overcome significant barriers to achieve at the highest academic and extra-curricular levels.

The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., will announce the 10 Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on Nov. 14, 2016, following the vote by the members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Likewise, the three finalists will be declared, following another vote, on Nov. 22, 2016. For complete details and updates of interest, together with weekly statistics and timely, important news of the Biletnikoff Award candidates, as well as a fan vote and discussion board, please consult the Foundation's highly informative website at www.biletnikoffaward.com.

The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the pro and college football halls of fame, was an All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Fred was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XI. The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation (TQC), Inc., created the Biletnikoff Award in 1994.