Player Of The Year Watchlist – Week Zero

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Every Friday throughout the 2026 season we will be adding three new players to our Prep Redzone Oklahoma Player Of The Year Watchlist. Anyone is eligible to be added but this is a list that is reserved for the best of the best. We kick things off this week with our first three additions. And since this is the first week and we don't have any football to go off of so far, we're going back to the end of last year and adding the three finalists from last year's award that have returned this season for their senior years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='693905' first='Delijah' last='Matthews'] - Senior Running Back - Carl Albert</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carl Albert senior running back Delijah Matthews will be chasing his own record going into this season. Last year, Matthews finished with 254 carries for 2,033 yards and 44 touchdowns. The 44 touchdowns on the ground broke Xavier Robinson's single-season rushing touchdown record that he just set a few years ago. Matthews also threw three touchdowns and returned a punt for a score. Matthews was simply a touchdown machine for the Titans in 2025. In 9 of their 14 games last season, he had at least three rushing touchdowns. We talked with him after the season and he was already fired up for 2026 and an opportunity to chase his own record and even more history this season. Matthews and the Titans open up the season tonight against Newcastle. Coincidentally, the Titans beat Newcastle in the 5A semifinals a year ago and that was the game that Matthews broke the single season touchdown record. He also earned the state's Gatorade Player Of The Year award for his 2025 campaign. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1525562' first='Greydon' last='Howell'] - Senior Quarterback - Broken Bow</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've said it before and we'll say it again here. Broken Bow senior quarterback Greydon Howell is the most electric football player in the state and it's been that way for the last two seasons. Howell should be at the top of the list for any football fan in the state for a player to watch in person this season. That price goes up starting next year as he's committed to Oklahoma. Last season, Howell was once again electric, leading Broken Bow to the district championship and a 4A semifinal appearance. Howell finished his junior season with over 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns while also adding over 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground. He flirted with it last season, but he has an opportunity to throw for over 3,000 yards and run for over 2,000 yards. That puts him in rare territory in the state's history. He's also the number one reason why Broken Bow comes into this season as our number one team in the 4A preseason rankings. They open the season on the road tonight against 5A's McAlester. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1524935' first='Landen' last='Griffith'] - Senior Quarterback/Defensive Back - Talihina</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Talihina senior quarterback and defensive back Landen Griffith comes into this season looking to guide the Golden Tigers to a second straight state championship. There wasn't another player that had a better statistical season than Griffith last year. There isn't an argument for anybody else when you see what Griffith did in 2025. Offensively, Griffith threw for over 4,100 yards and 53 touchdowns while completing 72% of his passes. He also added over 1,300 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. 75 offensive touchdowns is out of this world good and he wasn't finished there. Defensively, he also added 74 tackles and six interceptions. He forced four fumbles and recovered three fumbles on the year. Griffith, like Howell, had his breakout moment in 2024, when he led his team to the state title game and had some strong numbers. But in 2025, he went absolutely nuclear and left no doubt that he was going to lead his team to the title. Now, we can't wait to see what that production looks like in 2026 because the bar is unbelievably high.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->