Justin Davis, Ronald Jones II Named to 2016 Doak Walker Award Watch List

Justin Davis and Ronald Jones II were named to the Doak Walker Award watch list for 2016 as candidates to be named the nation’s premier running back.

The Doak Walker Award released it’s 2016 watch list Thursday with a pair of Trojan running backs vying for one of the most coveted awards in the nation.

Justin Davis, who had been a preseason candidate last year along with Tre Madden, and Ronald Jones II were among the players named to the watch list.

Davis enters his senior season ranked 22nd on USC’s career rushing list after a break out campaign in 2015. Starting the final eight games of the season, Davis proved a steady figure for the rebooted Trojan rushing attack and finished the year with 902 yards and seven touchdowns.

That performance delivered on the bright start Davis enjoyed at USC but struggled to maintain. As a freshman he scored six touchdowns in the Trojans first seven games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Returning as a sophomore, Davis found himself in the shadow of Buck Allen, resigned to the role of a back up.

With his junior resurgence, Davis set up a promising finale to his career.

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Jones, the exciting sophomore who lit up the USC record books in 2015, is also looking to build on his stellar freshman season. Breaking Charles White’s freshman rushing record with a team-best 987 yards and eight touchdowns, Jones was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention.

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His electric speed earned him the nickname, the Texas Tesla, and a place on the Maxwell Award watch list among the most dangerous offensive weapons in the country.

Though USC boasts the title of Running Back U, just one Trojan runner has claimed the Walker Award, which got its start in 1990. Reggie Bush won the honor in 2005.