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. Nominations for the award will be accepted through October.
The complete list of candidates, who were nominated by their universities, follows:
Josh Adams (So.), Notre Dame
Saquon Barkley (So.), Penn State
Jamauri Bogan (So.), W. Michigan
Joel Bouagnon (Sr.), Northern Illinois
Matt Breida (Sr.), Georgia Southern
Shannon Brooks (So.), Minnesota
Algernon Brown (Sr.), BYU
James Butler (Jr.), Nevada
Nick Chubb (Jr.), Georgia
Jordan Chunn (Jr.), Troy
Corey Clement (Sr.), Wisconsin
James Conner (Jr.), Pittsburgh
Dalvin Cook (Jr.), Florida State
Marcus Cox (Sr.), Appalachian State
LeShun Daniels, Jr. (Sr.), Iowa
Justin Davis (Sr.), USC
Matthew Dayes (Sr.), NC State
Jela Duncan (Sr.), Duke
D’Andre Ferby (So.), W. Kentucky
Tarean Folston (Sr.), Notre Dame
D’Onta Foreman (Jr.), Texas
Leonard Fournette (Jr.), LSU
Jarvion Franklin (Jr.), W. Michigan
Royce Freeman (Jr.), Oregon
Wayne Gallman (Jr.), Clemson
Myles Gaskin (So.), Washington
Damien Harris (So.), Alabama
Paul Harris (Sr.), Hawaii
Kyle Hicks (Jr.), TCU
Brian Hill (Jr.), Wyoming
Dontrell Hilliard (Jr.), Tulane
Brandon Holloway (Sr.), Miss. State
Elijah Hood (Jr.), North Carolina
Jalen Hurd (Jr.), Tennessee
Johnny Jefferson (Jr.), Baylor
Aaron Jones (Jr.), UTEP
Charles Jones (Sr.), Kansas State
Markell Jones (So.), Purdue
Ronald Jones II (So.), USC
Alvin Kamara (Jr.), Tennessee
Ray Lawry (Jr.), Old Dominion
Phillip Lindsay (So.), Colorado
Shock Linwood (Sr.), Baylor
Marlon Mack (Jr.), South Florida
Devante Mays (Sr.), Utah State
Christian McCaffrey (Jr.), Stanford
Elijah McGuire (Sr.), UL-Lafayette
Sony Michel (Jr.), Georgia
Taquan Mizzell (Sr.), Virginia
Khalfani Muhammad (Sr.), Cal
Terrell Newby (Sr.), Nebraska
Arkeel Newsome (Jr.), Connecticut
Jacobi Owens (Sr.), Air Force
Samaje Perine (Jr.), Oklahoma
Donnel Pumphrey (Sr.), SDSU
Devine Redding (Jr.), Indiana
Larry Rose III (Jr.), New Mexico State
Bo Scarbrough (So.), Alabama
De’Veon Smith (Sr.), Michigan
Justin Stockton (Jr.), Texas Tech
Shaq Vann (So.), Eastern Michigan
Ke’Shawn Vaughn (So.), Illinois
Anthony Wales (Sr.), W. Kentucky
Kody Walker (Sr.), Arkansas
Warren Wand (So.), Arkansas State
Chris Warren III (So.), Texas
Mike Warren (So.), Iowa State
Tre Watson (Jr.), Cal
Ralph Webb (Jr.), Vanderbilt
David Williams (Jr.), South Carolina
Jamaal Williams (Sr.), BYU
Rawleigh Williams III (So.), Arkansas
Stanley Williams (Jr.), Kentucky
Nick Wilson (Jr.), Arizona
Shaun Wilson (Jr.), Duke
Marquis Young (So.), Massachusett
By Staff Report