Four running backs from the state of Alabama have been selected to the preseason Doak Walker Award watchlist, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced on Tuesday.

Alabama’s Justice Haynes and Jam Miller, Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter, and UAB’s Lee Beebe, Jr. were each named candidates for the award, named after former SMU RB Doak Walker, which has annually been given to the nation’s top running back since 1989.

Neither Haynes nor Miller has seen many carries at this point in their young careers, but both are highly-touted prospects expected to take major steps forward after the departures of Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams.

Auburn’s Hunter is entering his fourth year on the Plains and is coming off a career-best season in which he rushed for over 900 yards. UAB’s Beebe averaged almost seven yards per carry in 2023 and is expected to be a breakout candidate in the American Athletic Conference.

Ten semifinalists for the award will be announced in November, and three finalists will be chosen later that month. The Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast a vote in December to determine the recipient. According to the PwC SMU Athletic Forum, the committee consists of “past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.”

Three in-state players have won the award, each of them members of the Alabama Crimson Tide: Trent Richardson in 2011, Derrick Henry in 2015, and Najee Harris in 2020.

Charles Vaughan is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News.