BALTIMORE, Md. (July 31, 2025) -- Stats Perform released its HBCU FCS National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List on Thursday, with two distinguished student-athletes from Morgan State earning recognition.
Redshirt senior linebacker Erick Hunter and redshirt sophomore running back Jason Collins Jr. were among the 20 selected HBCU student-athletes.
Last week (July 22), Collins was named to the 2025 MEAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, after rushing for 634 yards and eight touchdowns on 114 carries to earn 2024 MEAC Rookie of the Year honors. His breakout performance came against Delaware State, where he exploded for a 75-yard touchdown and totaled 152 rushing yards on 24 carries.
A dual-threat out of the backfield, Collins also recorded 17 receptions for 143 yards. He ranked fifth in the MEAC in rushing yards, seventh in all-purpose yards (69.9 ypg), 10th in scoring (4.0 ppg), and 11th in total offense (52.8 ypg). Capping off his standout season, Collins was named a finalist for the 2024 Jerry Rice Award, honoring the top freshman in FCS football.
This offseason, Erick Hunter — the 2025 MEAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year — earned First Team honors from FCS Football Central, was named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Second Team, and most recently landed on the Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch List.
Despite missing most of the 2024 season, Hunter made a strong return in the final two games, capping the year with a standout performance against Howard that included seven tackles and one sack.
Hunter, who ranks ninth on Morgan State's all-time tackles list with 196, has already established himself as one of the top defenders in the FCS. In 2023, he earned BOXTOROW Impact Player of the Year honors, was named to the FCS Football Central All-American Third Team, received All-MEAC First Team recognition, and was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award.
Regardless of position, the award recognizes the nation's best HBCU player from 21 programs spread across the FCS.
A national panel involving HBCU/FCS coverage will select the award winner after the regular season. The recipient will be announced on Dec. 8, then honored at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Presentation on Jan. 3, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Morgan is set to open its 2025 football season on the road Saturday, August 30, with a challenging out-of-conference matchup against the University of South Alabama Jaguars. This highly anticipated season-opening showdown for Morgan will kick off at 7 p.m., taking place on the Jaguars' home turf at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
Season tickets for the 2025 campaign are now available. Click here to purchase.
The full list of the 2025 HBCU FCS National Player of the Year Watch List is here.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
