Brief History and Overview of the Award
Established in 1990, the Doak Walker Award was created in honor of former SMU running back Doak Walker to recognize the best running back in college football each season. Over the years, there have been many notable winners, but two schools have stood out, with Alabama and Wisconsin each producing five recipients of the award. Unsurprisingly, the most recent winner was the standout from Boise State, Ashton Jeanty.
Doak Walker Award Outlook for 2025
Embed from Getty ImagesUnlike the Biletnikoff Award—and much like the uncertainty surrounding the 2025 college football season—there is no clear frontrunner for the Doak Walker Award. Some familiar names sit near the top of the list, joined by a few newcomers poised to make a splash this season. Last year’s favorite, Jeremiyah Love, once again enters with the shortest odds to win the award. Let’s see how he fares, along with the other running backs with the best odds to take home the Doak Walker Award ahead of the 2025 college football season:
| Name | School | Odds | Implied Odds |
| Jeremiyah Love | Notre Dame | +400 | 20% |
| Nicholas Singleton | Penn State | +600 | 14.29% |
| Desmond Reid | Pittsburgh | +900 | 10% |
| Darius Taylor | Minnesota | +1000 | 9.09% |
| Kaytron Allen | Penn State | +1500 | 6.25% |
| Makhi Hughes | Oregon | +1800 | 5.26% |
| Isaac Brown | Louisville | +2000 | 4.76% |
| Ahmad Hardy | Missouri | +2500 | 3.85% |
| Malik Sherrod | Boise State | +3000 | 3.23% |
| Le’Veon Moss | Texas A&M | +3000 | 3.23% |
| Jaydyn Ott | Oklahoma | +3000 | 3.23% |
| Jam Miller | Alabama | +3000 | 3.23% |
| CJ Baxter | Texas | +3000 | 3.23% |
Closing Remarks
Given that Jeremiyah Love has an implied probability of 20%, his current value at +400 isn’t particularly strong—especially considering we haven’t seen a single snap of football yet. These odds can shift dramatically after just one week, so if you’re confident in Love having a big season, you might be better off waiting a few games before placing a bet.
As for the rest of the players on the list, there’s some intriguing value to be found—particularly if you have a strong hunch about someone in the +3000 range. Notably, two Penn State running backs are listed: Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who split carries last season. Allen logged 220 carries to Singleton’s 172, but Singleton had the better average at 6.4 yards per carry, compared to Allen’s 5.0. It will be interesting to see how James Franklin handles the backfield split this year.
Much like the Biletnikoff, the Doak Walker Award is shaping up to be another exciting storyline this season. It’ll be fascinating to see which running back emerges as the top performer.
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