Doak Walker Award watch list: Travis Etienne, Chuba Hubbard headline list

Chuba Hubbard and Travis Etienne are the leading Doak Walker Award candidates.

Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor picked up his second consecutive Doak Walker Award, which honors the best running back in college football, after the 2019 season, but his departure for the pros has opened the door for some new blood to take over the mantle of best back in the country.

Among the names included on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award in 2020 are Clemson’s Travis Etienne and Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard, both of whom should be considered the betting favorites.

Etienne was joined on the watchlist by a few different ACC backs, including Lousiville’s Javian Hawkins as well as a pair of North Carolina Tar Heels in Javonte Williams and Michael Carter.

Etienne surprisingly returned to Clemson rather than turn pro after a season in which he totaled over 2,000 yards from scrimmage while scoring 23 touchdowns in an offense that isn’t necessarily partial to running backs given how Trevor Lawrence likes to air it out.

Hubbard might actually have a better shot at this award given how productive he was in Mike Gundy’s offense last year.

While Hubbard made waves for his public spat with Gundy after the Pokes head coach was seen wearing a shirt bearing the logo of extremely controversial right-wing network OAN, the offseason hullabaloo shouldn’t overshadow the fact that Hubbard might lead the Cowboys to the Big 12 title if he is able to replicate his insane production from a year ago.

He was a finalist in 2019, along with Ohio State’s JK Dobbins, but lost out to Taylor, who was picked in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.

2020 Doak Walker Award watch list.

• Drake Anderson (So.), Northwestern
• David Bailey (Jr.), Boston College
• Max Borghi (Jr.), Washington State
• Rakeem Boyd (Sr.), Arkansas
• Gary Brightwell (Sr.), Arizona
• Kennedy Brooks (Jr.), Oklahoma
• Shamari Brooks (Sr.), Tulsa
• Christopher Brown, Jr. (Jr.), Cal
• Journey Brown (Jr.), Penn State
• Spencer Brown (Sr.), UAB
• Noah Cain (So.), Penn State
• Jamale Carothers (Jr.), Navy
• Stephen Carr (Sr.), USC
• Michael Carter (Sr.), North Carolina
• Andrew Clair (Jr.), Bowling Green
• Elijah Collins (So.), Michigan State
• James Cook (Jr.), Georgia
• Jashaun Corbin (So.), Florida State
• ReMahn Davis (So.), Temple
• Travis Etienne (Sr.), Clemson
• Demetric Felton (Sr.), UCLA
• Alex Fontenot (Jr.), Colorado
• Kenneth Gainwell (So.), Memphis
• Tyler Goodson (So.), Iowa
• Eric Gray (So.), Tennessee
• Breece Hall (So.), Iowa State
• Najee Harris (Sr.), Alabama
• Javian Hawkins (So.), Louisville
• Justin Henderson (Sr.), Louisiana Tech
• Kylin Hill (Sr.), Mississippi State
• George Holani (So.), Boise State
• Chuba Hubbard (Jr.), Oklahoma State
• Caleb Huntley (Sr.), Ball State
• Mohamed Ibrahim (Jr.), Minnesota
• Keaontay Ingram (Jr.), Texas
• Deon Jackson (Sr.), Duke
• Jermar Jefferson (Jr.), Oregon State
• Josh Johnson (Sr.), ULM
• Amare Jones (Jr.), Tulane
• Lopini Katoa (Jr.), BYU
• Wesley Kennedy III (Sr.), Georgia Southern
• JD King (Sr.), Georgia Southern
• Brenden Knox (Jr.), Marshall
• Bryant Koback (Jr.), Toledo
• Kobe Lewis (Jr.), Central Michigan
• Vavae Malepeai (Sr.), USC
• Kevin Marks (Jr.), Buffalo
• Jordan Mason (Jr.), Georgia Tech
• Kevin Mensah (Sr.), Connecticut
• Dedrick Mills (Sr.), Nebraska
• Elijah Mitchell (Sr.), Louisiana-Lafayette
• Marcel Murray (Jr.), Arkansas State
• Richard Newton (So.), Washington
• Jaret Patterson (Jr.), Buffalo
• Trey Ragas (Sr.), Louisiana-Lafayette
• Miles Reed (Jr.), Hawaii
• Ronnie Rivers (Sr.), Fresno State
• Larry Rountree III (Sr.), Missouri
• Mekhi Sargent (Sr.), Iowa
• Stevie Scott III (Jr.), Indiana
• B.J. Smith (Sr.), Troy
• Isaiah Spiller (So.), Texas A&M
• SaRodorick Thompson (So.), Texas Tech
• Toa Taua (Jr.), Nevada
• Corey Taylor II (Sr.), Tulsa
• Xazavian Valladay (Jr.), Wyoming
• CJ Verdell (Jr.), Oregon
• Quardraiz Wadley (Sr.), UTEP
• Gaej Walker (Sr.), Western Kentucky
• Kenneth Walker III (So.), Wake Forest
• Jaylen Warren (Sr.), Utah State
• Nakia Watson (So.), Wisconsin
• Zamir White (So.), Georgia
• Charles Williams (Sr.), UNLV
• Javonte Williams (Jr.), North Carolina
• D.J. Williams (So.), Auburn

Etienne and Hubbard will both be playing on Sundays in 2021, and they should be considered the favorites to take home the top honor for college football’s top running back.