WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University running back Jaden Shirden (West Haven, CT/Cheshire Academy) was one of three players invited to the 2022 announcement of the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award, the honor bestowed upon the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
 
A national, 54-member panel voted on the 36th annual award after the regular season. The announcement of the recipient will be made at the FCS National Awards banquet on Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.
 
Monmouth's dynamic sophomore led the entire country in rushing at the end of the regular season, including FBS running backs, with 1,722 yards. His 8.4 yards per carry and 156.5 rushing yards per game were both tops in the FCS, earning him Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Year honors. Shirden averaged an impressive 52.8 yards on 13 touchdown runs, including eight 50+ yard touchdown runs. The two-time CAA Offensive Player of the Week ranked third in the conference with his 13 rushing scores.
 
Earlier in the year he set the Monmouth record for rushing yards in a game when he had 299 yards on just 12 carries against Fordham, including touchdown runs of 95 and 80 yards. Shirden had four 200-yard games on the season and nine 100+ yard performances. At one point in the season the sophomore ran for 917 yards over a five-game span. His 8.4 yards per carry was a new Monmouth single-season record while his 1,722 rushing yards was second most in the school annals.
 
Shirden joins former Monmouth running back Pete Guerriero as the only Hawk to finish in the top-three in voting for the Walter Payton Award. Guerriero finished third in the voting after the 2019 season in which he led the nation in rushing and helped lead Monmouth to a Big South Championship and a NCAA second round appearance.
 
Joining Shirden are quarterbacks Tim DeMorat from Fordham and graduate student Lindsey Scott from University of Incarnate Word. For complete coverage of the Walter Payton Award and the other top FCS awards visit https://www.statsperform.com/fcs/
 
The Walter Payton Award, first presented in 1987, has a distinguished history of recipients, including Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp and Trey Lance.  
 
2022 Walter Payton Award Voting Results
Following is a breakdown of the voting results. A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point. The final number is the combined point total.
1. TBA, Jan. 7
2. TBA, Jan. 7
3. TBA, Jan. 7
4. Michael Hiers, QB, Samford: 3-3-7-8-5-69
5. Geno Hess, RB, Southeast Missouri: 0-3-8-9-7-61
6. Shedeur Sanders, QB, Jackson State: 1-2-8-3-2-45
7. Jaleel McLaughlin, RB, Youngstown State: 3-1-2-2-1-30
8. Cody Mauch, OL, North Dakota State: 0-1-5-2-4-27
9. Joey Hobert, WR, Utah Tech: 0-1-2-1-5-17
10.(tie) Cameron Skattebo, RB, Sacramento State: 0-2-1-2-1-16
10.(tie) Matthew Sluka, QB, Holy Cross: 0-2-1-1-3-16
12.(tie) Hunter Luepke, FB, North Dakota State: 0-0-1-3-2-11
12.(tie) Parker McKinney, QB, Eastern Kentucky: 0-0-2-2-1-11
14.(tie) Devron Harper, WR, Mercer: 0-2-0-1-0-10
14.(tie) Fotis Kokosioulis, WR, Fordham: 1-0-0-2-1-10
14.(tie) Ulonzo Gilliam Jr., RB, UC Davis: 1-0-0-1-3-10
17. ShunDerrick Powell, RB, North Alabama: 0-0-1-1-1-6
18.(tie) Tommy Mellot, QB, Montana State: 0-1-0-0-1-5
18.(tie) Xavier Gipson, WR, Stephen F. Austin: 0-0-0-2-1-5
20.(tie) Bhayshul Tuten, RB, North Carolina A&T: 0-0-0-2-0-4
20.(tie) Xavier Smith, WR, Florida A&M: 0-0-1-0-1-4
22. Reece Udinski, QB, Richmond: 0-0-0-0-3-3
23.(tie) Bailey Fisher, QB, Gardner-Webb: 0-0-0-1-0-2
23.(tie) Davius Richard, QB, North Carolina Central: 0-0-0-0-2-2
25.(tie) Cole Doyle, QB, Saint Francis: 0-0-0-0-1-1
25.(tie) Deonta McMahon, RB, McNeese: 0-0-0-0-1-1
27.(tie) Aidan Borguet, RB, Harvard: 0-0-0-0-0-0
27.(tie) Jake Chisholm, RB, Dayton: 0-0-0-0-0-0
27.(tie) Ailym Ford, RB, Chattanooga: 0-0-0-0-0-0
27.(tie) Andrei Iosivas, WR, Princeton: 0-0-0-0-0-0