Auburn football: Cody Parkey named to Groza watch list; Steven Clark on Ray Guy watch list

The preseason watch lists for the Groza Award and the Ray Guy Award were announced Wednesday morning, with Cody Parkey on the former and Steven Clark on the latter. The Groza is given out each year to college football's best placekicker, while the Ray Guy is awarded annually to the country's top punter.

Parkey is listed among 30 kickers nationwide, and Clark is included on a list of 25 for his preseason list. Both players are entering their senior seasons, and if EA Sports' NCAA Football 14 is accurate, they'll be two of Auburn's best players this season. Considering that the Tigers are in a bit of a rebuilding mode and Parkey and Clark are actually really good at their jobs, that probably isn't a stretch.

Parkey made 11-of-14 field goal attempts last season, ranking third in the SEC, and he was a perfect 27-of-27 on extra points. In addition to his accuracy, he led the conference with a 68.8 touchback percentage on kickoffs, which was the second year in a row he led the category.

Like almost everyone in orange and blue, Clark had a down year in 2012. He averaged just 39.8 yards per punt, which ranked 11th in the conference. Clark's average was up a tick at 40.9 in 2011, but his impressive hang time allowed opponents to make only 10 returns for 62 yards all season. For his efforts, he was selected as a Ray Guy finalist, but he lost out to Louisiana Tech's Ryan Allen.

More from College and Magnolia:

• C.J. Uzomah named to Mackey Award watch list
• Dee Ford named to Bednarik Award watch list
• The top 25 radio calls made by Jim Fyffe
• Sunny Golloway completes staff with Greg Norton
• Can Auburn's defense live up to its 90 rating in NCAA Football 14?