This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Last offseason, few outside Salt Lake City and Sacramento were talking about Devontae Booker. He was a 2014 spring standout, sure, but likely to split carries with Bubba Poole and Troy McCormick. Not a work horse. Not one of the nation's best running backs.
Thursday, when Booker became one of 69 official preseason candidates for the Doak Walker Award, brought another in a series of reminders that Booker has come a long way since.
Of course, Booker seized the starting role by the beginning of last year's Pac-12 play, rushing for 1,512 yards and 10 touchdowns and catching 43 passes for 306 yards and two more scores.
Teams loaded up the box to stop him. He just kept coming.
Since his decision to return for his senior season, coaches have hinted that Booker could receive as many as 30 touches a game in 2015.
With that, the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Heisman honors are all in play — provided Booker stays healthy, maintains his form and leads Utah to spectacular success. No sure things, any of them.
Twelve of the 69 running backs on the Doak Walker candidate list play for Pac-12 teams, including two from Oregon (Thomas Tyner and Royce Freeman).
Here's the full watch list rollout schedule (click for details on Utes):
July 7 • Bednarik Award and Maxwell Award
July 9 • Lou Groza Award and Ray Guy Award
July 13 • Jim Thorpe Award
July 14 • Butkus Award and Rotary Lombardi Award
July 15 • Biletnikoff Award and Wuerffel Trophy
July 16 • Davey O'Brien Award and Doak Walker Award
July 17 • Walter Camp Award
— Matthew Piper
Twitter: @matthew_piper