WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Coming off a third-place finish in last year's voting, Monmouth University football junior running back Jaden Shirden has been named to the 2023 Stats Perform Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List presented by FedEx Ground.
 
Shirden has already claimed four national preseason All-America honors from Stats Perform, Hero Sports, Athlon Sports and The Bluebloods. Shirden's inclusion on the Payton Award Watch List is the second of his career and he is the sixth Hawk in program history to be named to the watch list, joining Monmouth greats David Sinisi (2008), Reggie White Jr. (2018), Pete Guerriero (2019), Kenji Bahar (2019) and Juwon Farri (2021 and 2022).

Last season, Shirden was third in the voting for the Payton Award, which is presented annually to the national offensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football. Shirden finished behind a pair of departing quarterbacks last year and enters this season as one of the preseason favorites to win the award. Shirden is looking to become the first Monmouth player in program history to secure the accolade and the first non-quarterback since Cooper Kupp in 2015. The last time a running back claimed the prestigious honor was in 2003 when Colgate's Jamaal Branch was recognized.

Shirden, the CAA's 2023 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, completed his sophomore season as the nation's leading rusher and earned consensus All-America honors from six different major publications.
 
Shirden 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 CAA 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 2022 season 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 Connecticut native ran for 917 yards over a five-game span. His 8.4 yards per carry marked a new Monmouth single-season record while his 1,722 rushing yards was second most in Monmouth history.
 
Follow Shirden on social media @Shirden_20 (twitter) and jrock_20 (Instagram)

Monmouth starts the season at Florida Atlantic University on September 2, 2023. Season and single-game tickets are on sale now at MonmouthHawks.com/tickets or by calling 732-263-5735.