JUST IN: Oregon State Beavers confirm another 5-star lineman commitment just now

Van Wells has gained attention this preseason as the Oregon State Beavers’ center. After transferring from the Colorado Buffaloes in the offseason, he’s made it onto the watch list for two preseason college football awards.

The 6-foot-2, 315-pound junior from Houston, Van Wells, has earned spots on the watch lists for both the Rimington Trophy and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, aligning him with some of the top offensive linemen in college football. Wells is among 40 players vying for the Rimington Trophy, which is presented annually to the nation’s best center, and one of 93 players in the running for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, which honors an offensive player with Texas ties who exemplifies integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community, and tenacity.

Before transferring to Oregon State, Wells played in 20 games for the Colorado Buffaloes, starting 11 and logging over 1,000 snaps. As a sophomore, he earned an 80.7 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF), which evaluates every college player in each game.

The Rimington Trophy winner is partially determined by PFF grades and will be chosen by a committee that considers All-American teams from the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News, and the Football Writers Association of America.

To qualify for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, a player must have graduated from a Texas high school or be playing at a Texas university. Wells, a graduate of C.E. King High School in Houston, meets this criterion. The award’s watch list will be narrowed to 16 semifinalists in November and five finalists in December, with the winner announced at a banquet on January 22 in Tyler, Texas.