Travis Etienne named to the Doak Walker Award watch list |
| - Wednesday, July 17, 2019, 11:42 PM |
DALLAS – The PwC SMU Athletic Forum released today the preseason candidates for the 2019 Doak Walker Award. The Forum annually presents the award to the nation’s top college running back.
2018 Doak Walker Award recipient Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin) leads the list of preseason candidates. Taylor, the nation’s leading rusher last season, rushed for 2,194 yards in his sophomore campaign. Doak Walker Award finalist Travis Etienne (Clemson), who average over eight yards per carry last season, is also featured. Other candidates of note include 2018 Doak Walker Award semifinalists Eno Benjamin (Arizona State), AJ Dillion (Boston College) and J.J. Taylor (Arizona). University athletic departments nominate candidates for the award and can continue to do so through October. The complete list of candidates is below. Cam Akers (Jr.), Florida State Darius Anderson (Sr.), TCU Jafar Armstrong (Jr.), Notre Dame LaVante Bellamy (Sr.), Western Michigan Eno Benjamin (Jr.), Arizona State Max Borghi (So.), Washington State Isaiah Bowser (So.), Northwestern Rakeem Boyd (Jr.), Arkansas Darius Bradwell (Sr.), Tulane Shamari Brooks (Jr.), Tulsa Spencer Brown (Jr.), UAB Brittain Brown (Jr.), Duke Cade Carney (Sr.), Wake Forest Michael Carter (Jr.), North Carolina Ty Chandler (Jr.), Tennessee Andrew Clair (Jr.), Bowling Green Jashaun Corbin (So.), Texas A&M Reggie Corbin (Sr.), Illinois AJ Dillon (Jr.), Boston College J.K. Dobbins (Jr), Ohio State Travis Dye (So.), Oregon Travis Etienne (Jr.), Clemson Darrynton Evans (Jr.), Appalachian State Dayton Furuta (Sr.), Hawaii Tre Harbison (Jr.), Northern Illinois Najee Harris (Jr.), Alabama Kylin Hill (Jr.), Mississippi State Jerry Howard, Jr. (Jr.), Georgia Tech Chuba Hubbard (So.), Oklahoma State Mohamed Ibrahim (So.), Minnesota Keaontay Ingram (So.), Texas Deon Jackson (Jr.), Duke Jermar Jefferson (So.), Oregon State Tony Jones, Jr. (Sr.), Notre Dame Lopini Katoa (So.), BYU Joshua Kelley (Sr.), UCLA Bryant Koback (So.), Toledo Benny LeMay (Sr.), UNCC Vavae Malepeai (Jr.), USC Kam Martin (Sr.), Auburn Jordan Mason (So.), Georgia Tech Greg McCrae (Jr.), UCF Anthony McFarland, Jr. (So.), Maryland Tra Minter (Sr.), South Alabama Elijah Mitchell (Jr.), Louisiana-Lafayette Marcel Murray (So.), Arkansas State Mo Neal (Sr.), Syracuse Jaret Patterson (So.), Buffalo Lamical Perine (Sr.), Florida Scottie Phillips (Sr.), Ole Miss Trey Ragas (Jr.), Louisiana-Lafayette Ronnie Rivers (Jr.), Fresno State Larry Rountree, III (Jr.), Missouri Mekhi Sargent (Jr), Iowa Cameron Scarlett (Sr.), Stanford Stevie Scott, III (So.), Indiana BJ Smith (Sr.), Troy Rodney Smith (Sr.), Minnesota Kesean Strong (Sr.), Old Dominion D’Andre Swift (Jr.), Georgia Toa Taua (So.), Nevada Corey Taylor, II (Jr.), Tulsa J.J. Taylor (Jr.), Arizona Jonathan Taylor (Jr.), Wisconsin Patrick Taylor (Sr.), Memphis DeAndre Torrey (Jr.), North Texas Breck Turner (Sr.), Eastern Michigan KeShawn Vaughn (Sr.), Vanderbilt CJ Verdell (So.), Oregon Michael Warren, II (Jr.), Cincinnati Devwah Whaley (Sr.), Arkansas The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced on November 20. The committee will cast a second vote beginning December 2 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives. The recipient of the 2019 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 12 on ESPN. The award, which will name its 30th recipient in 2019, is named for SMU’s three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.
