Boise State tight end Matt Wagner has landed on the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List, giving the senior another preseason honor as he heads into his final year with the Broncos.
The Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce and SPORTyler announced the watch list, which goes to the nation’s top offensive player who reflects the qualities associated with Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community and tenacity. To qualify, a player must also be born in Texas and/or have attended a Texas high school, junior college or university. Wagner fits the bill as a native of Prosper, Texas, and a graduate of Rock Hill HS in Frisco.
Wagner’s production has steadily built across his Boise State career. He enters the 2026 season with 34 catches for 359 yards and one touchdown, including 24 receptions for 251 yards in 2025. He has played in 31 games and made 19 starts for the Broncos.
His biggest regular-season moment last year came in the 2025 finale, when he caught five passes for 69 yards and scored the first touchdown of his career. Boise State won at Utah State, 25-24, and clinched a berth in the Mountain West Championship.
The watch list nod adds to an already busy preseason for Wagner. He was also named to the Shriners Children’s East-West Bowl 1000 and earned preseason All-Pac-12 recognition from Athlon Sports as a second-team selection and from Phil Steele as a third-team pick.
Wagner is one of several Broncos showing up on 2026 award watch lists. QB Maddux Madsen is on the Maxwell Award, Unitas Golden Arm Award, Walter Camp Award, Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, East-West Bowl 1000 and AFCA Good Hands Team Nominee lists. RB Dylan Riley is on the Maxwell Award list, WR Ben Ford is in the Comeback Player of the Year mix, and OL Roger Carreon is on the Outland Trophy and East-West Bowl 1000 lists.
Also included are OL Daylon Metoyer, OL Stewart Taufa, DL David Latu, EDGE Jayden Virgin-Morgan, DB Jaden Mickey, DB JeRico Washington Jr., P Oscar Doyle and HC Spencer Danielson. Taufa and Latu are both on the Polynesian Player of the Year list, while Mickey is on the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award and East-West Bowl 1000 lists, and Doyle is on the Ray Guy Award watch list.
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The passing game is still coming together with new faces in the wide receiver room, and Danielson has pointed to improvements in practice as the group settles in. He also said the Broncos have adjusted their tackling work to clean up last seasons problems, but the real test arrives soon enough, when the new habits are put under the kind of pressure only Oregon can provide. [Read more 🡒]