Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Westbrook and Cooper Kupp are some of the esteemed winners of the Walter Payton Award, which honors the offensive player of the year in FCS college football.

Running backs won nine of the first 17 Paytons, but as football has changed, quarterbacks have come to dominate the award, claiming 13 of the last 14.

The Payton -- the so-called Heisman of the FCS -- will be awarded for the 32nd time in the 2018 season. Here are Athlon Sports' top five candidates for the award.

-- Compiled by Craig Haley, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network. Haley has covered the FCS level since 1999 and is the national writer for www.fcs.football. He appears frequently on radio shows and podcasts to discuss everything FCS. Follow him on Twitter @CraigHaley.