Junior James Daniels was named to the 2017 Rimington Trophy Watch List on Tuesday by the Boomer Esiason Foundation.

The award focuses on the nation’s top centers in college football.

Daniels has been a driving force for Iowa’s offensive line. He started 11 games last season but missed the two nonconference games because of injuries.

The Warren, Ohio, native is one of Iowa’s four returners on its O-line, and each one has carried his own weight on the line. I mean it, each one weighs an averaging of 300 pounds.

After numerous shifts were made last season, Daniels and the O-line still held things together and took care of business. That was a huge reason that Iowa won the Joe Moore Award.

The winner of the Rimington Trophy award will be announced on Jan. 13, 2018, at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska.

— Jess Westendorf