DALLAS - The PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced today the preseason candidates for the 2016 Doak Walker Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back.
Juniors Leonard Fournette of LSU and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford headline the 2016 candidate list after both were Doak Walker Award finalists a year ago. Fournette led the NCAA at 162.8 yards per game last year, while McCaffrey was the nation’s leader in all-purpose yardage (276.0 YPG). Six of the 11 semifinalists for the 2015 Doak Walker Award appear on the 2016 watch list.
MORE: Check here for full preseason watch lists
Nominations for the award will be accepted through October. The complete list of candidates, who were nominated by their universities, follows:
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | YR. |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Adams | Notre Dame | So. |
| Saquon Barkley | Penn State | So. |
| Jamauri Bogan | Western Michigan | So. |
| Joel Bouagnon | Northern Illinois | Sr. |
| Matt Breida | Georgia Southern | Sr. |
| Shannon Brooks | Minnesota | So. |
| Algernon Brown | BYU | Sr. |
| James Butler | Nevada | Jr. |
| Nick Chubb | Georgia | Jr. |
| Jordan Chunn | Troy | Jr. |
| Corey Clement | Wisconsin | Sr. |
| James Conner | Pittsburgh | Jr. |
| Dalvin Cook | Florida State | Jr. |
| Marcus Cox | Appalachian State | Sr. |
| LeShun Daniels | Iowa | Sr. |
| Justin Davis | USC | Sr. |
| Matthew Dayes | NC State | Sr. |
| Jela Duncan | Duke | Sr. |
| D’Andre Ferby | Western Kentucky | So. |
| Tarean Folston | Notre Dame | Sr. |
| D’Onta Foreman | Texas | Jr. |
| Leonard Fournette | LSU | Jr. |
| Jarvion Franklin | Western Michigan | Jr. |
| Royce Freeman | Oregon | Jr. |
| Wayne Gallman | Clemson | Jr. |
| Myles Gaskin | Washington | So. |
| Damien Harris | Alabama | So. |
| Paul Harris | Hwaii | Sr. |
| Kyle Hicks | TCU | Jr. |
| Brian Hill | Wynoming | Jr. |
| Dontrell Hilliard | Tulane | Jr. |
| Brandon Holloway | Mississippi State | SR. |
| Elijah Hood | North Carolina | Jr. |
| Jalen Hurd | Tennessee | Jr. |
| Johnny Jefferson | Baylor | Jr. |
| Aaron Jones | UTEP | Jr. |
| Charles Jones | Kansas State | Sr. |
| Markell Jones | Purdue | So. |
| Ronald Jones II | USC | So. |
| Xavier Jones | SMU | So. |
| Alvin Kamara | Tennessee | Jr. |
| Ray Lawry | Old Dominion | Jr. |
| Phillip Lindsay | Colorado | So. |
| Shock Linwood | Baylor | Sr. |
| Marlon Mack | South Florida | Jr. |
| Devante Mays | Utah State | Sr. |
| Christian McCaffrey | Stanford | Jr. |
| Elijah McGuire | UL-Lafayette | Sr. |
| Sony Michel | Georgia | Jr. |
| Taquan Mizzell | Virginia | Sr. |
| Khalfani Muhammad | Cal | Sr. |
| Terrell Newby | Nebraska | Sr. |
| Arkeel Newsome | Connecticut | Jr. |
| Jacobi Owens | Air Force | Sr. |
| Samaje Perine | Oklahoma | Jr. |
| Donnel Pumphrey | SDSU | Sr. |
| Devine Redding | Indiana | Jr. |
| Larry Rose III | New Mexico State | Jr. |
| Bo Scarbrough | Alabama | So. |
| De’Veon Smith | Michigan | Sr. |
| Justin Stockton | Texas Tech | Jr. |
| Shaq Vann | Eastern Michigan | So. |
| Ke’Shawn Vaughn | Illinois | So. |
| Anthony Wales | Western Kentucky | Sr. |
| Kody Walker | Arkansas | Sr. |
| Warren Wand | Arkansas State | So. |
| Chris Warren III | Texas | So. |
| Mike Warren | Iowa State | Jr. |
| Tre Watson | Cal | Jr. |
| Ralph Webb | Vanderbilt | Jr. |
| David Williams | South Carolina | Jr. |
| Jamaal Williams | BYU | Sr. |
| Rawleigh Williams III | Arkansas | So. |
| Stanley Williams | Kentucky | Jr. |
| Nick Wilson | Arizona | Jr. |
| Shaun Wilson | Duke | Jr. |
| Marquis Young | Massachusetts | So. |
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists on Nov. 16, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the three finalists, who will be announced on November 22. The committee will cast a second vote beginning November 28 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 2016 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 8, on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas in early 2017. The award, which will name its 27th recipient in 2016, 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.
