Baylor's Mims a semifinalist for Earl Campbell award

Baylor football sophomore receiver Denzel Mims was named a semifinalist for the 2017 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award on Wednesday, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football announced.

One of 10 semifinalists, the Daingerfield, Texas (Daingerfield High School) native was also a 2017 Biletnikoff Award Watch List mid-season addition as he is one of six Power 5 receivers with over 1,000 yards on the season. In 11 games, he has 59 catches for 1,061 yards and eight touchdowns while having at least two catches in every game this season.

Mims ranks ninth in the FBS and third in the Big 12 in receiving yards (1,061), 11th and third in receiving yard per game (96.5), 24th and sixth in receiving TDs (8), 43rd and fifth in receptions per game (5.4) and 28th and eighth in yards per catch (17.98). He ranks eighth on Baylor’s single season receiving yards list (1,061) and 29th on the career list (1,085). He is just the 10th receiver in school history with 1,000-plus yards in a season and became Baylor’s 35th receiver to reach 1,000-plus career receiving yards.

With eight receiving TDs, Mims ranks tied for 10th on Baylor’s single-season receiving TDs list, and had at least one TD catch in each of the first five games this season (KD Cannon had one or more in each of the first three games in 2016 and Corey Coleman had one or more in the first eight games in 2015).

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award recognizes the top offensive player in Division I football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community and tenacity; specifically tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals. In addition, the nominee must meet one or more of the following criteria: born in Texas and/or graduated from a Texas High School and/or played at a Texas-based junior college or four-year college.

The award is named for Earl Campbell, who graduated from John Tyler High School in Tyler before going on to win the Heisman Trophy at Texas. He earned NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1978 and went on to lead the NFL in rushing three times. Campbell earned NFL MVP honors in 1979 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Baylor’s Bryce Petty was the inaugural winner of the award in 2013.