Doak Walker Award


The Doak Walker Award, first awarded in 1990, honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a star halfback in college for the SMU Mustangs and in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions. The 2019 winner of the Doak Walker Award was Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin. A Badgers running back has won it four times in the last eight years, and no school has won more Doak Walker Awards than Wisconsin. Taylor is one of only three players to win the award more than once, with the others being Ricky Williams of Texas, and Darren McFadden of Arkansas.
The award requires all candidates to be:
The award recipient receives a sculpture of Doak Walker, cast in bronze and mounted on a wooden base. It was created by artist Blair Buswell, who has sculpted the busts of more than a dozen inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Winners

YearWinnerSchoolRef
1990Washington
1991Rice
1992Georgia
1993Texas Tech
1994Colorado
1995Ohio State
1996Texas Tech
1997Texas
1998 Texas
1999Wisconsin
2000TCU
2001BYU
2002Penn State
2003Michigan
2004Texas
2005USC
2006Arkansas
2007 Arkansas
2008Iowa
2009Stanford
2010Oregon
2011Alabama
2012Wisconsin
2013Boston College
2014Wisconsin
2015Derrick HenryAlabama
2016D'Onta ForemanTexas
2017Bryce LoveStanford
2018Jonathan TaylorWisconsin
2019Jonathan Taylor Wisconsin