Habern, who missed five games in the middle of the 2011 season with a broken wrist and underwent minor offseason back surgery, is back and healthy heading into his senior season.
This will be his third straight season at starting center, as he has opened 30 contests during his career at OU.
Despite starting just six last year, Habern still managed to rack up 39 knockdowns on 391 snaps.
The previous season, he started all 14 games en route to earning All-Big 12 honorable mention by the Associated Press.
Habern joins three other Big 12 players represented on the Rimington Trophy Watch List, including Kansas State’s B.J. Finney, TCU’s James Fry and West Virginia’s Joe Madsen, and he’s the sixth OU football student-athlete to be named to a preseason watch list this week.
Quarterback Landry Jones, wide receiver Kenny Stills and running back Dominique Whaley were named to the Maxwell Award preseason list, handed out to the nation’s top outstanding player, while cornerback Demontre Hurst and free safety Tony Jefferson were mentioned on the Bednarik Award list, given to the nation’s top defensive player.
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