CHARLESTON, S.C. – Illinois State senior tight end James O'Shaughnessy was named to the 2014 College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Tight End Award Watch List, as announced by the CFPA Wednesday.
The initial watch list includes 36 returning performers, vying for the top tight end award in the Football Championship Subdivision. O'Shaughnessy is one of six tight ends from the Missouri Valley Football Conference named to the list, joining Gannon Sinclair of Missouri State, Kevin Vaadeland of North Dakota State, Braden Lehman of Northern Iowa, MyCole Pruitt of Southern Illinois and Nate Adams of Youngstown State.
"Congratulations to James O'Shaughnessy on earning a spot on the 2014 CFPA Watch List," CFPA Executive Director Brad Smith said. "O'Shaughnessy will be one of the top MVFC players to watch in 2014."
In 34 career games with the Redbirds over the past three seasons, O'Shaughnessy has caught 38 passes for 626 yards and scored five touchdowns. O'Shaughnessy played in all 11 games for the Redbirds in 2013, starting in 10 of those contests. The Naperville, Ill., native ranked fourth on the team with 14 receptions, which resulted in 147 yards, and averaged 10.5 yards per catch during his junior season.
As a sophomore in 2012, O'Shaughnessy averaged 21.2 yards-per-reception and finished the season with 19 receptions for 403 yards with three touchdowns. He recorded a pair of touchdown grabs in the second-round playoff win at Appalachian State, including the game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime that advanced the Redbirds to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
The goal of College Football Performance Awards is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferment in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams. Twenty-eight CFPA winners have been first-round NFL Draft selections.
CFPA is now in its seventh season of recognition, utilizing objective rankings of player and team performance from its data index since 2008. Its player and team performance index is broken down by offense, defense and special teams.
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