LJ Martin Could Chase BYU History in 2026

Martin could climb the leaderboard of BYU's all-time leading rushers

BYU RB LJ Martin against TCU | BYU Photo

On Thursday, BYU star running back LJ Martin announced his plans to return to school for his senior season. Martin, who was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2025, was one of the best running backs in college football. His return is a massive addition to BYU's 2026 team.

Martin has a chance to cement himself as one of the best to ever do it at BYU.

Martin has led BYU in rushing in all three of his years at BYU. He has a chance to become the first running back in BYU history to lead BYU in rushing in four consecutive seasons. That's not the only record that Martin could set at BYU in 2026.

In three years at BYU, Martin has 2,541 career rushing yards. That ranks ninth in BYU history and just ahead of Doak Walker Award winner Luke Staley.

Heading into the 2026 season, Martin is 1,360 rushing yards behind BYU all-time leading rusher Jamaal Williams. Martin had a career high 1,305 rushing yards in 2025. If Martin is able to narrowly exceed his 2025 production, he would become BYU's all-time leading rusher.

If he runs for 915 yards or more, he would surpass now BYU running backs coach Harvey Unga who ranks second in BYU history. As long as Martin stays healthy, he will rank no lower than third all time.

BYU All-Time Leading Rushers

1. Jamaal Williams - 3,901
2. Harvey Unga - 3,455
3. Curis Brown - 3,221
4. Jamal Willis - 2,970
5. Tyler Allgeier - 2,904
6. Taysom Hill - 2,815
7. Lakei Heimuli - 2,710
8. Jeff Blanc - 2,663
9. LJ Martin - 2,541
10. Luke Staley - 2,493

More importantly, Martin will be looking to lead BYU to its first Big 12 championship. The Cougars took an incremental step in 2025 by making it to the conference title game in Arlington. BYU fell short, losing only to Texas Tech.

The Cougars will look to get over the hump in 2026.

For BYU to take that next step, they needed to retain the talent from the 2025 roster. With Martin back in the fold, BYU will bring back practically every starter that still had eligibility. That is the first step.

The next step will be to find players in the portal that can elevate a few areas where BYU lacked in 2025. BYU will need to add some starting-caliber players along the offensive line, and they will need to find one or two more playmakers on both sides of the ball.