2024-25 Doak Walker Award Odds and Predictions

The 2024-25 college football season will be another one for the record books. For the first time in the sport’s history, there will be a 12-team playoff to determine the national champion. The College Football Playoff remains intact. It will just now field the 12 best teams in the country instead of four. The 2024-25 Doak Walker Award winner just might be in the first field of 12 this season.

The Doak Walker Award is given annually to the nation’s best running back. It is named for the former SMU great who went on to play for the Detroit Lions in the NFL. The 2024-25 Doak Walker Award enters its 35th season and has the opportunity to do something that has happened just twice since the award began in 1990.

Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon II led the nation in rushing in 2023 and won last season’s Doak Walker Award. Gordon decided to stick around in Stillwaterl and will have an opportunity to win back-to-back honors. Only Arkansas’ Darren McFadden (2006-07) and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor (2018-19) have won consecutive Doak Walker awards.

Can Gordon pull off the repeat? In today’s age of pass-happy offenses, what other running backs can challenge Gordon for the 2024-25 Doak Walker Award? Don’t worry. There are plenty of running backs ready to help their teams in the run to the college football national championship.  Let’s take a look.

2024-25 Doak Walker Award Odds

2024-25 Doak Walker Award Odds	2024-25 Doak Walker Award Odds
Ollie Gordon II (+300)	Donovan Edwards (+700)
Omarion Hampton (+750)	Quinshon Judkins (+850)
TreVeyon Henderson (+1000)	Trevor Etienne (+1000)
Ashton Jeanty (+1200)	Tahj Brooks (+1800)
Devin Neal (+2000)	C.J. Baxter (+2000)

Doak Walker Favorites

With Gordon having a Doak Walker trophy under his belt already, it’s easy to see why he’s the presumptive favorite to win a second consecutive award. It’s definitely not a lock. Here, we examine the top three candidates to win the 2024-25 Doak Walker award.

Ollie Gordon II – Oklahoma State

He has to be a favorite, right? Absolutely! Gordon came out of nowhere last season to lead the nation in rushing. Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy admits they didn’t know what they had in Gordon early in the season. Through three games, Gordon had just 19 carries. Then, he exploded.

Gordon would carry an average of 24 times per game and finish the 2023 season with 1,732 yards. He ended up with over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting. Barring injury, Gordon should once again be the key in an offense that returns nine starters, including all five offensive linemen.

Stats matter in the Doak Walker award voting. The winner has finished no lower than sixth in the nation in rushing yards. Scores & Stats likes Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title race and being a playoff-caliber team surely helps when it comes to individual awards. With another season like last, Gordon could become the third running back to win back-to-back Doak Walker awards.

Donovan Edwards – Michigan

Edwards catapulted himself into the 2024-25 Doak Walker award race with his performance in last year’s national championship game. He only had six carries, but he rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns in Michigan’s 34-13 win over Washington. Edwards only had 497 yards and five touchdowns last season, but he was not RB1 in 2023.

That honor went to now NFL running back Blake Corum who rushed for 1,245 yards and a nation’s best 27 touchdowns. Michigan is an offense that is built around the run. The Wolverines will break in a new starting quarterback now that J.J. McCarthy is in the NFL. Michigan will likely have a tough time in the Big Ten race, but Edwards can help.

The best way to nurture a new quarterback is to run the football. That means Edwards should get plenty of opportunities to touch the football. That also means he should have the stats of a typical Doak Walker winner.

Omarion Hampton – North Carolina

In looking at the latest 2024-25 Doak Walker award odds, you’ll see Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson among the top five. Judkins transferred to Ohio State where Henderson has rushed for 2,752 yards and 32 touchdowns over the past three seasons. Those two will cancel each other out, leaving Hampton the better option at +750.

Hampton led the ACC in rushing last season with 1,504 yards and North Carolina has had a long history of running back success. In 2021, Ty Chandler rushed for over 1,000 yards and QB Sam Howell added 828. In 2020, the Tar Heels had two running backs rush for over 1,000 yards after the same two (Michael Carter and Javonte Williams) just missed in 2019 (1,003 and 993).

Like Edwards at Michigan, Hampton is in a situation where a new quarterback will take over the UNC offense. Hampton will be a key to making that a smooth transition from first-round draft pick Drake Maye to highly touted Max Johnson. Hampton will get plenty of touches in 2024 and should put up some big numbers in the defensively challenged ACC.

Top 2024-25 Doak Walker Award Value Bet

Finding value in the 2024-25 Doak Walker Award race is somewhat difficult. Gordon is a huge favorite having won the honor last season. Edwards is a quality candidate, but Michigan will essentially rebuild its entire offense as only one starter returns. Plus, they’ll do it with a new head coach (Sherrone Moore).

Judkins and Henderson will form what will definitely be the best one-two RB combination in the nation. The problem is that they will each take carries away from one another and likely not finish with the statistics of a typical Doak Walker winner.

Hampton should have another solid season at North Carolina, but the Tar Heels likely won’t figure into the ACC title race. Georgia (Trevor Etienne) hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher in a month of Sundays and the Bulldogs prefer a two-back system anyway. So, where is the value?

He’s more of a longshot, but Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty is the best value at +1200. He was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year last year with 1,347 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns. He also caught 43 passes for 569 yards and five more scores. The Broncos are favored in the latest Mountain West Conference odds and that could translate into a playoff bid. Jeanty was 11th in the nation in rushing last season. Another season full of stats and wins could propel Jeanty to victory.

Best Doak Walker Longshot Bet

While some may consider Jeanty a longshot, Penn State’s Nick Singleton is a definite longshot. He’s listed on the 2024-25 Doak Walker Award betting board at +5500. That translates to a 1.79 percent chance of winning this year’s top running back award. Singleton will also share the Penn State backfield with Kaytron Allen, who was the Nittany Lions leading rusher last year with 902 yards.

The Penn State offense is about to explode. Head coach James Franklin went out and hired offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki away from Kansas. Last season, the Jayhawks had a 1,000-yard rusher and averaged 206 yards on the ground per game. It’s not the only time Kotelnicki has guided such a prolific offense either. QB Drew Allar (2,631 passing yards, 25 TDs) should have a huge season and you can bet Kotelnicki will use all of his weapons.

Penn State is expected to compete for a Big Ten title as well as a CFP spot. Singleton is a dynamic, talented running back who is set to break out in 2024. Whether he shares the backfield with Allen or not, expect huge numbers from Singleton and success for the Nittany Lions.

2024-25 Doak Walker Award Prediction

It’s not all that often the reigning Doak Walker Award winner gets to come back and defend his title. The last time it happened was in 2019 when Taylor of Wisconsin returned to rush for over 2,000 yards for a second consecutive season.

This year, Gordon has the rare opportunity to win a second Doak Walker Award. He will have his entire offensive line back and he definitely won’t have just 19 carries in his first three games. The offense returns nine starters from a unit that averaged nearly 30 points per game last season. QB Alan Bowman returns for his seventh college football season. OSU is experienced and talented.

Expect Gordon to get at least 25 touches per game. Last year, he averaged over six yards per carry. Oklahoma State is favored to win the Big 12. Winning the conference would put the Cowboys in the College Football playoff. That means at least 14 games. If Gordon rushes for an average of just 150 yards per game, He’ll hit the 2,000 mark easily, which almost guarantees a Doak Walker win. Until another running back can prove to us otherwise, the 2024-25 Doak Walker Award is Ollie Gordon’s to lose.

Recent Doak Walker Award Winners

Year	Winner
2023	Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State
2022	Bijan Robinson, Texas
2021	Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State
2020	Najee Harris, Alabama
2019	Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
2018	Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
2017	Bryce Love, Stanford
2016	D’Onta Foreman, Texas
2015	Derrick Henry, Alabama
2014	Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin