Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore quarterback Taron Dickens, who led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in five of the top offensive statistical categories through nine regular-season games, has been invited to the announcement of the 2025 Walter Payton Award. Dickens is among the trio who emerged from the 30 national finalists across all 13 NCAA FCS conferences for the 39th Walter Payton Award, affectionately known as the Heisman Trophy of the FCS.
 
The 2025 award recipient, selected after the regular season by a 56-member national voting panel, will be announced at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show on Jan. 3, at the Woolworth Theatre in Nashville, Tenn., the site of the NCAA FCS National Championship game.
 
The Roy M. "Legs" Hawley Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-SoCon selection, Dickens ranked No. 1 in the FCS in total passing yards (3,508) despite three fewer games than most other candidates. He also paced the country in passing yards per game (389.8), completion percentage (74.2), total offensive yards per game (425.4), and touchdown passes with a school and SoCon single-season record 38.
 
The first Catamount football player to ever earn an invite to the national postseason awards ceremony, Dickens will be joined in the Music City by Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard and QB Cole Payton of North Dakota State as the top three in the final vote count. Brungard and Payton both compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC).
  A three-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Week and recognized by Stats Perform FCS five times, including being named NCAA FCS National Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 6, Dickens amassed a school-record 3,829 yards of total offense over 462 plays between his nine starts. He averaged an NCAA-best at all levels 425.4 yards per game, one of just two QBs nationally to finish the regular season above the 400-yard per game mark and the only remaining QB still above the 400-yard plateau after the opening weekend of the NCAA FCS playoffs.
 
Dickens led the NCAA FCS and SoCon with a WCU-record 3,508 passing yards – the 10th-best single-season average in the history of the SoCon – while averaging a nation-leading 389.8 yards per game over his nine games played.
 
Dickens eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark seven times in his nine games, surpassing 400 yards four times with a pair of 500-yard passing efforts. He accounted for four of the Top 13 individual passing games in the NCAA FCS during the regular season, including 582 yards in his season debut against league-foe Samford – the second-most passing yards in a game in program and SoCon history. He also threw for 551 yards against No. 10 Mercer, 427 yards on the road at Campbell, and 426 passing yards against ETSU.

Dubbed the SoCon's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Dickens finished second in the nation with 271 pass completions despite three fewer games played than the national leader, connecting on an NCAA-record 50-straight passes at one point during the year between the end of the Campbell game and including a national record – at all levels of football – with 46 consecutive completions to open the road win at Wofford. Dickens finished 271-of-365 through the air with his 74.2% completion percentage tops in the NCAA FCS, and ranked second in the SoCon record books. Dickens also set a SoCon record for passing efficiency at 188.24, eclipsing the previous mark held by Marshall's Michael Payton (181.3, 1991).
 
A product of Miami, Fla., Dickens broke the SoCon's single-season record with 38 touchdown passes to lead the NCAA in 2025, giving him 51 TDs in 18 games over the last three seasons – tied for second in WCU's career record books.
 
Dickens is the fifth Catamount offensive player to advance to the finalist voting list, and the first to earn the invite to the final awards ceremony, thereby solidifying WCU's best-ever finish. He joined former QB Cole Gonzales, who appeared on the list twice over the past two seasons (2023, 2024), and finished a previous program-best 17th in the final voting in 2023. Other Catamount offensive players among the national finalists and their finishing order in the national vote include Troy Mitchell (2015, 25th), Detrez Newsome (2017, 24th), and Tyrie Adams (2018, 19th-t).
 
The Payton Award is named for legendary running back Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson State as part of his Hall of Fame career. Its past recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Taylor Heinicke, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp, and Trey Lance.

Also on Tuesday morning, the three finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award were unveiled, with two-thirds coming from the Southern Conference, adding to the impressive nature of what Dickens was able to accomplish this season. Mercer's Andrew Zock, the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, and Furman's Joshua Stoneking were listed among the finalists for the nation's top defender. Mercer freshman QB Braden Atkinson joined Dickens among the finalists for the Payton Award.
 
2025 Walter Payton Award Voting:
Following is a breakdown of the voting results (finishing order of the top three to be announced on Jan. 3). 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., 2., 3. – TBA (Jan. 3): between Beau Brungard, Youngstown State; Taron Dickens, Western Carolina; and Cole Payton, North Dakota State
 
4. Joshua Dye, Southern Utah: 1-6-11-12-6 = 92
5. Braden Atkinson, Mercer: 2-5-1-5-5 = 48
6. Rodney Nelson, Monmouth: 1-4-2-6-5 = 44
7. Justin Lamson, Montana State: 1-2-7-1-4 = 40
8. DJ Williams, Southern Illinois: 1-2-4-4-1 = 34
9. Keali'I Ah Yat, Montana: 0-1-6-2-4 = 30
10. Chris Parson, Austin Peay: 1-2-1-2-3 = 23
11. Luke Yoder, Lehigh: 1-0-4-2-0 = 21
12 Bryce Lance, North Dakota State: 0-2-0-2-3 = 15
13. Kekoa Visperas, Tennessee Tech: 2-0-1-0-1 = 14
14. Marquis Gillis, Delaware State: 0-2-0-1-0 = 10
15. Kente Edwards, Lafayette: 1-0-0-1-1 = 8
T16. Andrew Body, Alabama State: 0-1-0-1-1 = 7
T16. L.J. Phillips Jr. South Dakota: 0-0-1-1-2 = 7
T18. Joey Isabella, Duquesne: 0-0-1-1-1 = 6
T18. Marquise Buchanan, Rhode Island: 0-0-1-1-1 = 6
T18. Michael Wortham, Montana: 0-0-0-2-2 = 6
T21. Collin Hurst, Presbyterian: 0-0-1-0-2 = 5
T21. Walker Harris, North Carolina Central: 1-0-0-0-0 = 5
T23. Devin Farrell, Rhode Island: 0-0-0-1-1 = 3
T23. Jared Richardson, Penn: 0-0-0-1-1 = 3
T25. Eddie Lee Marburger, UT Rio Grande Valley: 0-0-0-0-1 = 1
T25. Jaden Craig, Harvard: 0-0-0-0-1 = 1
T25. Josh Pitsenberger, Yale: 0-0-0-0-1 = 1
T25. Victor Gabalis, Tarleton State: 0-0-0-0-1 = 1
T29. Elijah Howard, Central Connecticut State: 0-0-0-0-0 = 0
T29. Rodney Hammond Jr., Sacramento State: 0-0-0-0-0 = 0
 
In addition to the Walter Payton Award, the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Defensive Player of the Year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year), HBCU National Player of the Year, and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year – an honor in which WCU's Micah Nelson is among the 13 national finalists – will be presented at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show in Nashville.
 
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