Renfro Named to Rimington Trophy Watch List
August 6, 2026 | Football
NEWS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois center Jake Renfro has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2026 Rimington Trophy, released Thursday by the Rimington Trophy Committee.
Renfro is one of 40 players listed among the top centers in college football entering the 2026 season. The Big Ten leads the way with 13 honorees. He is he first Illini to appear on the Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List since Doug Kramer in 2021.
RIMINGTON TROPHY
The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football. Since its inception, the award has raised over $5 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only two-time winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.
- Rimington Trophy Website
- Last three winners:
- 2025: Logan Jones, Iowa
- 2024: Seth McLaughlin, Ohio State
- 2023: Jackson Powers, Oregon
JAKE RENFRO
- Ranked as the #241 overall transfer and #13 transfer center by 247Sports.
- Played in 38 career games with 36 starts at Cincinnati (2020-22) and Wisconsin (2023-25).
- Named to 2025 Rimington Trophy Watch List before missing final eight games of the season due to injury.
- Started all 12 games at Wisconsin in 2024, allowing only one sack and 10 pressures across 375 pass rushing opportunities, according to PFF.
- Started 13 of Cincinnati's 14 games in 2021, earning All-AAC first team honors while leading the Bearcats to a College Football Playoff berth.
