2018 Preseason Award Projections: Doak Walker Award

By Charlie Campbell
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Heading into the 2018 college football season, WalterFootball.com will debut our projections for the nation’s leaders during the fall. The All-American teams always have some surprises, and the next fall’s stars could be the headline players next April for the 2019 NFL Draft. We also will project the winners of the postseason awards that are given out to the best of college football.

The Doak Walker Award is given to the best running back in college football. Last year’s winner was Stanford’s Bryce Love.

Doak Walker Award Winner:

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin

The Doak Walker Award has a tendency to favor the runners with one of the highest rushing totals. Thus that makes it really hard to predict a winner, but with Anderson’s talent level, he is definitely capable of producing a massive season. I considered J.K. Dobbins from Ohio State, but with Mike Weber there, they could end up splitting the workload. Ditto for Alabama with its two-headed monster of Damien Harris and Najee Harris. Bennie Snell from Kentucky was another top contender, but his blocking isn’t as good and he plays in a tough defensive conference, unlike the Big XII. Additionally, everybody will be selling out to stop Snell with quality defensive talent. Rodney Anderson, L.J. Scott and Bryce Love were other top candidates I considered, but there were too many positives going in Taylor’s direction.

Taylor should produce a huge 2018 season and could easily be the most productive running back in college football. As usual, Wisconsin has an excellent offensive line that should run roughshod over a very easy schedule. With the Badgers’ ground-based offense, Taylor is sure to get many rushing opportunities, and it would not be surprising to me if Taylor puts his name in the program’s record book with a prolific year similar to Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and Ron Dayne.

Taylor had broke out last year while averaging 6.6 yards per carry for 1,977 yards with 13 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 216-pounder showed an overwhelming combination of size, quickness, and natural running skills. Taylor also has good support beyond his offensive line, which has multiple future NFL competitors. Wisconsin has a good defense that should get the ball back to Taylor, and head coach Paul Chryst always seems to engineer a passing attack. I think Taylor is going to have a massive 2018 season, and I think he could easily be the winner of the Doak Walker Award.




Doak Walker Award Runner-Up:

Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma

The 6-foot-1, 219-pound Anderson has a lot going for him to win the Doak Walker Award. Even though he has a build with size, Anderson shows impressive speed with first-step quickness and a burst to get to the second level. In the tackle box, he runs with nice knee bend to stay behind his pads and run through contact. Anderson flashes an ability to run angry and charges hard downhill. When he gets to the open field, he stands up higher to run away from defenders. Anderson also displays superb receiving ability. He runs good routes, adjusts well to the ball, makes acrobatic catches, and has soft hands. While Anderson is not a burner back like Chris Johnson, Anderson has a combination of size, speed, and receiving ability that reminds this analyst of Arian Foster and DeMarco Murray. With Baker Mayfield in the NFL, I think Anderson is going to be the bell cow of the Oklahoma offense and put together a huge 2018 season.

The Big XII also presents Anderson with an easy schedule. The conference is the arena league of college football and struggles to play defense, plus Oklahoma is by far the Big XII’s most talented team. With the Sooners’ offensive line and passing weapons like Marquise Brown, Anderson has support around him for a huge year. Thus, I would not be surprised if Anderson wins the Doak Walker Award. I think he will at least be a top contender for the award.




Doak Walker Award Dark Horse:

Bryce Love, Stanford

With Christian McCaffrey in the NFL, Love took over, and there was no drop off for Stanford as Love was one of the best players in college football in 2017, even winning the Doak Walker Award. Love averaged a staggering 8.3 yards per carry for 2,118 yards with 19 touchdowns. A leg injury slowed him down late in the year, but Love gutted it out and continued to be productive despite the injury. Love could have been in contention to be a late first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but he decided to return to Stanford.

With solid blocking talent in front of him, Love should have a massive 2018 season and could easily win the Doak Walker Award for the second consecutive year. However, the Doak Walker has a preference not to honor the same back for two straight years. The last player to win it twice in a row was Arkansas’ Darren McFadden in 2006-2007. Thus, I think the Doak Walker Award is more likely to go with another player.

Honorable Mentions: Kentucky’s Bennie Snell, Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State’s Mike Weber, Alabama’s Damien Harris, Alabama’s Najee Harris, Washington’s Myles Gaskin, Michigan’s Karan Higdon, Michigan State’s L.J. Scott, Florida Atlantic’s Devin Singletary, Iowa State’s David Montgomery and Oklahoma State’s Justice Hill.