Adams, one of FCS’s best players in three seasons at Eastern Washington, announced this spring that he was transferring to Oregon for his final season of eligibility.

PREVIEW: SN’s Top 25 QBs | Top 50 overall players | Heisman watch

But he isn’t officially a Duck just yet, pending the results of that final class for his undergraduate degree.

Still, he was named this week to the Unitas Award watch list, joining 29 other preseason candidates for the award given annually to the top senior quarterback judged on a combination of on-field performance plus character, citizenship and integrity.

College Football Talk points out another prerequisite: You must be in college.

Adams was admitted to Oregon this summer and ruled eligible to enroll in graduate classes for the fall, yet he is likely to miss at least three days of fall camp, which starts Monday, as he completes his Eastern Washington degree via a Community Education program, the Eugene Register-Guard reported.

As of Tuesday, at Pac-12 Media Days, Ducks coach Mark Helfrich said his No. 1 quarterback is Jeff Lockie, according to GoLocalPDX.com.

During a stellar three years at Eastern Washington, Adams threw for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns while completing 64.8 percent of his passes. That included 886 yards passing with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in games against the Ducks’ primary rivals: Oregon State in a 49-46 victory in 2013 and Washington in a 59-52 loss in 2014.

Last year’s Unitas Award winner was the man Adams is counting on replacing, Marcus Mariota.

The complete preseason Unitas Award watch list:

Vernon Adams Jr., Oregon Brandon Allen, Arkansas Tommy Armstrong, Nebraska Mike Bercovici, Arizona State Trevone Boykin, TCU Jacoby Brissett, N.C. State Connor Cook, Michigan State Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky Blake Frohnapfel, UMass Everett Golson, Florida State Taysom Hill, BYU Kevin Hogan, Stanford Driphus Jackson, Rice Matt Johnson, Bowling Green Chuckie Keeton, Utah State Cody Kessler, USC Gunner Kiel, Cincinnati Fredi Knighten, Arkansas State Joe Licata, Buffalo Paxton Lynch, Memphis Maty Mauk, Missouri Dak Prescott, Mississippi State Keenan Reynolds, Navy Nate Sudfeld, Indiana Zach Terrell, Western Michigan Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech Chad Voytik, Pittsburgh Carson Wentz, North Dakota State Marquise Williams, North Carolina Travis Wilson, Utah