Two Syracuse football running backs reside on the preseason watch list for the 2025 Doak Walker Award, which is dished out every season to the country's top RB.
Making the list for the Orange are Will Nixon, who will be a redshirt senior in the 2025 campaign, and Yasin Willis, who will be a sophomore. Congrats to both Will and Yasin!
By the way, my guy Bryan Zarpentine had an in-depth look at the 'Cuse running back room for the upcoming term in this recent piece. I'd check it out.
We got 2️⃣ on it @DoakWalkerAward @william_nixonTD x @willisyasin6 are on the Doak Walker Watch List for the nation’s best Running Back 🍊🎯📈 pic.twitter.com/s2tjBClvJi
— Syracuse Football (@CuseFootball) August 5, 2025
According to a release from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday, 17 running backs from the league are on this preseason watch list, which is the second-most of any conference.
Ten semifinalists will eventually be named for this year's Doak Walker Award, followed by three finalists in November. Per the ACC, the winner of this honor will be announced on December 12.
Syracuse football has big shoes to fill at running back in 2025.
Last year, as a junior, LeQuint Allen Jr. earned All-ACC honorable mention honors as both a running back and an all-purpose player after rushing for more than 1,000 yards, hauling in more than 500 receiving yards, and notching 20 total touchdowns.
Allen is now a member of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. For head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff, it will prove difficult to completely replicate Allen's production from 2024, but Nixon and Willis could form a strong backfield duo.
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Willis, a former four-star prospect in the 2024 class from New Jersey, will end up as the starter for Syracuse football this season. However, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Nixon, who previously played for Washington and Nebraska and is the son of Orange offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, should also get ample playing time in 2025.
Willis, in limited reps last season, carried the ball 36 times for 130 yards and one touchdown. Will Nixon, meanwhile, only appeared in three games during the 2024 term after suffering a Lisfranc injury. He had 19 rushes for 76 yards.
As we count down the weeks, and days, until the 'Cuse opens its 2025 stanza in Atlanta against No. 18 Tennessee, it's currently preseason awards season, so to speak. Not too long ago, when the preseason ACC media poll was disclosed, Jack Stonehouse, a rising redshirt senior punter, proved the only Syracuse football player to make the All-ACC squad.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Stonehouse, who previously competed for Missouri, has also been named to the preseason watch list for the 2025 Ray Guy Award, which will honor the country's best punter this season.
Additionally, linebacker Derek McDonald is on the preseason watch list for this year's Wuerffel Trophy, an annual award that recognizes players "who exemplify community service, academic excellence and athletic achievement."
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound McDonald, a rising redshirt senior from Atlanta, will be one of the key leaders of the Orange's defensive unit in 2025.