Williams and Brown named 2016 Doak Walker Award candidates

2016 Doak Walker Award Candidates Announced
BYU's Jamaal Williams and Algernon Brown named candidates for annual award honoring nation’s top college running back

DALLAS –The PwC SMU Athletic Forum today named BYU senior running backs Jamaal Williams and Algernon Brown to its list of preseason candidates for the 2016 Doak Walker Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back.

Highlighted by Williams and Brown, BYU boasts a strong stable of running backs in 2016. Brown led the Cougar ground attack in 2015 with 709 yards on 127 carries with 11 touchdowns—the most for a BYU running back since Williams had 12 in 2012. A three-year starter with 2,526 career yards, Williams has returned to the team after sitting out the 2015 season and needs 929 yards in 2016 to become BYU’s all-time leading rusher. Williams boasts 10 games with at least 100 rushing yards and three games with 150-plus yards, including a single-game career best of 219 yards.

In 2001, BYU running back Luke Staley was named the Doak Walker Award recipient after leading the nation averaging 8.1 yards per carry.  The recipient of the 2016 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 8, on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas in early 2017. The annual award, which will name its 27th recipient in 2016, is named for SMU’s three-time All-America running back Doak Walker.

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name 10 semifinalists on November 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.

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. Nominations for the award will be accepted through October. Listed below is the complete preseason list of candidates announced Thursday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum:

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.), Massachusetts