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The College Football season is right around the corner, and a multitude of running backs will be looking to come home with honors this year. It is time to continue our College Football odds series with a special 2023 Doak Walker Award Winner prediction and pick.
Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award has been given out to the best running back in the nation. Not only do they have to be a solid back, they must have made large contributions to their team, and show the characteristics, both on and off the field, of Doak Walker. The list of players to win the award includes Heisman trophy winners, first-round draft picks, and a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
In the 1990's Garrison Hearst, Rashaan Salaam, Eddie George, and the first two-time winner, Ricky Williams all took home the award. Recently it has been some household names for their work in the NFL. Melvin Gordon, Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, and Najee Harris have all lifted the awards. Last year, it was the first-round pick out of Texas, Bijan Robinson to take home the hardware. This year, multiple backs are in contention to win this coveted prize.
Here are the College Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: 2023 Doak Walker Award Winner
Quinshon Judkins: +500
Raheim Sander: +700
Nicholas Singleton: +900
Braelon Allen: +900
Blake Corum: +1200
Will Shipley: +1200
TreVeyon Henderson: +1600
Bucky Irving: +2000
Donovan Edwards: +2500
Rasheen Ali: +2500
Jabari Small: +2500
Audric Estime: +2500
Jonathan Brooks: +3500
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Favorites to Win the 2023 Doak Walker Award
Quinshon Judkins leads the way as the favorite to win the Doak Walker Award. Last year, he went for 1.567 yards on the ground while scoring 16 times for Ole Miss. That ranked him seventh in the nation in rushing yards and was just 13 yards and two touchdowns behind winner Bijan Robinson. He also did all of this as a freshman. He was the SEC Freshman of the Year last year, and first-team All-SEC as well. Judkins was also a semi-finalist for the award last year but dropped off as Blake Corum and Chase Brown took the finalist spots with Robinson. Still, the winner of this award has historically been on successful teams, or at least one that has over-achieved. Playing in a tough SEC, will Ole Miss win enough to get him on the radar to win the award?
On the same line as Judkins, another SEC running back sits second in odds. Raheim Sanders was a candidate for the award last year but did not make the semi-final cut. Last year as a sophomore for Arkansas he ran for 1,443 yards and ten scores. That was a big improvement from 2021 when he scored just five times. While he was 15th in the nation in rushing, Only Frank Fore and Deuce Vaughn had fewer rushing touchdowns than him in the top 20 rushers in FBS. In the last ten years, every running back to win the award has had at least 15 rushing touchdowns. So there is a question as to if Sanders will get enough opportunities to score to get to 15 touchdowns.
Another sophomore takes the stage at third in odds. Nicholas Singleton was the 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-Big Ten Player. Last year it was just 1,061 yards with 12 touchdowns on the year. Still, he was a freshman last year, and the offense was focused on Sean Clifford. Clifford is gone, and now the offense moves to Drew Allar. That’ll make the offense more run-heavy. The biggest knock on him to win the award is a man named Kaytron Allen. Allen split time with Singleton last year, taking 867 yards and ten touchdowns from him. If he does not become the focus back, he may not have enough to win.
Braelon Allen is the sole focus of the running game at Wisconsin. He is coming off his second straight season with over 1,200 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. He has been second-team All-Big Ten each of the last two years and should have some stability at quarterback to help him out. Last year, teams stuffed the box to slow down the only weapon from the Wisconsin offense. There will be getting used to a new system as Luke Fickell arrives, but he has been great for two years and should be again.
Blake Corum rounds out the top candidates. He was a finalist for the award last year and was a unanimous All-American last year. He was considered a potential Heisman candidate before getting injured and struggling at the end of the season. Against Ohio St., he was only able to carry the ball twice, and then he missed the Big Ten title game and playoff game. Still, Corum is a touchdown-scoring machine. Even while splitting time with Donovan Edwards, he had a touchdown in every game except the Ohio State game. He ran for over 100 yards in eight straight games as well. If he comes back healthy, he will be a prime candidate for this award.
Sleepers to Win the 2023 Doak Walker Award
TreVeyon Henderson ran for just 571 yards last year while missing a lot of time throughout the season for Ohio State. The year before that he ran for 1,248 yards while being a Second Team All-Big Ten players and scoring 15 times. If Henderson can come back healthy, he could be in the running for this award. First, the offense may be more run-heavy. The Buckeyes have not named a starting quarterback, with CJ Stroud gone. With Marvin Harrison Jr. and Embka Embuga at wideout, there will still be passing, but Henderson will be vital in getting the run game going. Still, Miyan Williams played great last year. If this becomes a timeshare, plus the ball going to the wideouts, there just may not be enough touches to go around.
Deeper on the list is Jonathan Brooks. If you have not heard the name, there is a reason. The Texas running back ran for 197 yards and five scores last year. Still, there are a lot of things going in his favor. First, he is replacing Bijan Robinson. If he can come close to replacing that production, he will be a candidate to win this award. Second, he is in Texas. The University of Texas is tied with Wisconsin for the most Doak Walker Award wins of all time. Both of them have five winners overall. Brooks is a dark horse, but the prediction is he will be in the running for the Doak Walker Award.
Final 2023 Doak Walker Award Winner Prediction and Pick:
The winner of this award not only normally puts up great stats, but carries the team. Even more, the team has historically done well. Bijan Robison is the most recent outlier to that with Texas, but it was clear he was the entire offense. The top two guys both have to go through tough SEC defenses and will not get the statistics to get the job done. Blake Corum would have won this award last year if he stayed healthy. He was expected to go to the NFL, but he came back to win awards and a title. He does just that with this award, and he takes home the Doak Walker Award.
Final 2023 Doak Walker Award Winner Prediction and Pick: Blake Corum (+1200)
