On Tuesday morning, representatives from the Doak Walker Award released their preseason watch list, which featured 12 players from the Big 12 Conference.
With the Big 12 Conference known for having some of the best backs in the country, representatives from 10 different teams earned placements on the list.
The 12 players to be named to the Doak Walker watch list were Arizona’s Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Arizona State’s Cameron Skattebo, BYU’s LJ Martin, Iowa State’s Abu Sama, Kansas’ Devin Neal, Kansas’ Daniel Hishaw, Kansas State’s DJ Giddens, Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon, Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks, UCF’s RJ Harvey, West Virginia’s CJ Donaldson, and West Virginia’s Jahiem White.
The list of watch list players features six 1,000-yard rushers: Jacory Corskey-Merritt, Devin Neal, DJ Giddens, Ollie Gordon, Tahj Brooks, and RJ Harvey. While some of the Big 12 Conference’s biggest names earned placements on the list, the Big 12 also had its fair share of big-name snubs.
Four names more than deserving of the honor are Baylor’s Richard Reese, Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner, Kansas State’s Dylan Edwards, and UCF’s Peny Boone. Reese had a down season in 2023 due to some injury concerns but was a near 1,000-yard rusher behind a bad Baylor OL in 2022. The exclusion of Corey Kiner is a peculiar one, as the Ohio native totaled 1,047 yards in the previous season at UC. While Edwards and Boone are new to the Big 12 in 2024, the pair are more than deserving of a mention.
With the 2024 college football season nearing three weeks away, the Big 12 Conference should have some of the top Big 12 running backs rise to the top in contention for the Doak Walker in the near future.
