Mercer quarterback Braden Atkinson has been voted the Jerry Rice Award winner, given to the best FCS freshman.
He will be recognized at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show on Jan. 3 in Nashville.
In 10 regular-season games, the true freshman finished 250/367 (68.1%) for 3,448 yards, 34 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. The 3,448 passing yards were No. 2 in the FCS regular season. Atkinson was PFF’s No. 3 graded FCS QB.
Herder: Top 5 Vote For The Jerry Rice Award
2025 Jerry Rice Award Voting
Below is a breakdown of the voting results. A first-place vote is worth five points, a second-place vote is four points, a third-place vote is three points, a fourth-place vote is two points, and a fifth-place vote is one point. The final number is the combined point total.
1. Braden Atkinson, Mercer: 51-2-1-0-1-267
2. Caden Pinnick, UC Davis: 2-28-7-1-4-149
3. Xai’Shaun Edwards, Houston Christian: 1-6-7-8-3-69
4. Lamont Lester Jr., Monmouth: 0-4-7-12-6-67
5. Tre Page III, Tarleton State: 0-4-6-7-3-51
6. Landen Clark, Elon: 0-5-4-3-6-44
7. Tony Diaz, UT Rio Grande Valley: 0-2-5-2-5-32
8. Montreze Smith Jr., Austin Peay: 0-1-3-2-5-28
9. Mitchell Summers, Sacred Heart: 0-0-6-2-4-20
10. EJ Colson, UIW: 0-0-6-1-3-17
11. Jaiden Haygood, UT Rio Grande Valley: 0-0-1-5-2-15
T12. Brooks Davis, Montana: 0-0-0-4-2-10
T12: Chase Bingmon, Prairie View A&M: 1-0-0-2-1-10
T12. Chase Hatton, Marist: 0-0-2-2-0-10
T15. Andrew Indorf, Towson: 0-0-2-1-1-9
T15. Darius Malcom Jr., Wofford: 1-1-0-0-0-9
T15. Nick Herman, Drake: 0-2-0-0-1-9
T15. Raymond Moore Jr., Morgan State: 0-0-2-1-1-9
19. Evan James, Furman: 0-1-0-0-2-6
20. Nic Yatsko, Indiana State: 0-0-1-0-2-5
21. Rashawn Cunningham, Charleston Southern: 0-0-0-0-2-2
T22. Matt Fogler, Colgate: 0-0-0-0-1-1
T22. Rico Bond, Lindenwood: 0-0-0-0-1-1
T24. Jaqai Carter, Robert Morris: 0-0-0-0-0-0
T24. Josh Robinson, Princeton: 0-0-0-0-0-0
