CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois running backs Kaden Feagin and Aidan Laughery have been named to the preseason watch list for the 2025 Doak Walker Award, released Tuesday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.
Illinois is one of 27 programs nationally to feature multiple backs on the 2025 Doak Walker Award watch list, which includes 103 players. Feagin appears on the watch list for the second consecutive season, while Laughery makes his first appearance.
DOAK WALKER AWARD
The Doak Walker Award is presented annually to the most outstanding running back in college football. Created in 1989, the award pays homage to Doak Walker, who won the 1948 Heisman Trophy and was a three-time All-American, and it honors student-athletes who excel on the field, in the classroom, and throughout the community. The Doak Walker Award recipient is voted on by a national selection committee, which includes sports writers, television commentators, analysts, radio sports personalities, former All-Pro and All-America running backs, and past award winners.
- Doak Walker Award Website
- Last three winners:
- 2024: Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
- 2023: Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State
- 2022: Bijan Robinson, Texas
KADEN FEAGIN
- 2025 Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten Third Team
- 2024 Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List
- 2023 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (coaches) as a true freshman
- Played in the first five games of 2024 and averaged 68.6 yards/game before missing the rest of the season due to injury
- Rushing touchdowns in each of Illinois’ first three games of 2024
- Career-high 108 rushing yards on 16 carries in Week 1 victory over Eastern Illinois to open the 2024 season
- Combined for 744 yards on 162 carries (4.6 avg.) with five rushing touchdowns and one receiving score through first 14 games of his career entering the 2025 season
AIDAN LAUGHERY
- Played in 12 games in 2024 with nine starts, including each of the final seven games of the regular season and the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl victory over #14 South Carolina (12/31/24)
- Averaged a team-leading 6.1 yards per attempt as a sophomore in 2024
- Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week after rushing 12 times for a career-best 172 yards and career-high three touchdowns in win at Wrigley Field against Northwestern (11/30/24)
- No. 1-graded running back according to PFF…
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