Could Emmett Johnson Really be a Heisman Finalist, All-American, Doak Walker Winner?

LINCOLN—Emmett Johnson has put himself in a position that hasn't been the norm in Lincoln for quite a while.

His head coach spent a good amount of time on Monday stumping for his candidacy for national awards, including All-America, the Doak Walker, and the Heisman Trophy. Despite a history of elite running backs, Nebraska only has a handful of those awards on the shelves.

"I personally believe Emmett Johnson should be in New York; I think he should be a Heisman candidate," Rhule said. "I think he should be a Doak Walker finalist, if not winner. He's a first-team All-American."

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson rushes against USC. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

But how does Johnson's season compare to the few seasons of All-Americans, including Heisman and Doak Walker finalists? And how does he compare to this year's competition for all three?

Previous Top Running Backs

Since 2021, there have been 13 first-team All-America nods. These include nods from several outlets: AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, WCFF, CBS, Athletic, PFF, USAT, ESPN, and SI.

Those 13 are listed below.

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State, 2024*%$
Cam Skattebo, Arizona State, 2024
Kaleb Johnson, Iowa, 2024*
Omarion Hampton, North Carolina, 2024*
Blake Corum, Michigan, 2023
Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State, 2023*%
Omarion Hampton, North Carolina, 2023*
Cody Schrader, Missouri, 2023*
Bijan Robinson, Texas, 2022*%
Blake Corum, Michigan, 2022*
Breece Hall, Iowa State 2021*
Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State, 2021*%
Sean Tucker, Syracuse, 2021

* Doak Walker Finalist
% Doak Walker Winner
$ Heisman Finalist

Among those on the list, only Blake Corum's 2023 season failed to reach 1,400 rushing yards. Johnson is currently on pace to finish just shy of 1,400 yards for the regular season and get near 1,500 yards with the bowl game.

Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Emmett Johnson celebrates his touchdown scored against the UCLA Bruins. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Johnson is also pacing near the bottom of that list for rushing touchdowns. Where he makes up some ground is his pace for rushing attempts, as well as what he can do in the receiving game.

His 13-game pace for rushing attempts would be in the top half. He's pacing to be near the top of the list for receptions before bowl season, as only Cam Skattebo caught more than 40 passes in the selected seasons. Johnson should also end up near the top for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

The all-purpose yards are weighted heavily by how much that list did running the football. Including the bowl game, Johnson should eclipse 1,800 all-purpose yards, which would trail just five of the above performances.

The 2025 Competition

But annual winners aren't determined by how they stack up statistically with past winners and finalists. They are judged by the competition of that season.

In 2025, Johnson is No. 1 in the Power Four for all-purpose yards per game. Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love is next, more than five yards behind.

On the rushing side, Johnson is tops in the Power Four for total rushing yards, 85 yards ahead of Missouri's Ahmad Hardy. Johnson, Hardy, and Antwan Raymond from Rutgers are the only FBS backs with over 1,000 yards on the season.

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson celebrates with quarterback Dylan Raiola after scoring on a 4-yard TD run. — Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson celebrates with quarterback Dylan Raiola after scoring on a 4-yard TD run against Houston Christian. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Johnson is in the top 10 among running backs for rushing touchdowns this season.

With 300 receiving yards on the season, Johnson is third among Power Four running backs. His three receiving touchdowns are tops in the Big Ten Conference and trail just the four from Vanderbilt's Sedrick Alexander.

At Monday's press conference to open Nebraska's second off week of the season, Rhule noted that Johnson leads the nation in yards from scrimmage, ranks second in the FBS for total rushing yards and is fifth in yards per game, leads the nation with 37% of his team's total yards, and is one of only three players in the FBS with 10 rushing touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns.

Rhule also said that a lot of the awards tend to be based on preseason expectations and watch lists.

"The flaw in college football today is, so much of it is preseason this, preseason that," Rhule said, using the rankings as an example. "I think people bias things."

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule and running back Emmett Johnson embrace before a game against Houston Christian. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Johnson was on the Doak Walker preseason watch list with 102 other players. He was not on the preseason All-Big Ten honors list, which included Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook in a Sports Illustrated article, Notre Dame's Jeremiah Love has the top odds for a running back to win the Heisman Trophy at +3000. Still, there are five players with higher odds, meaning a running back may not even be invited to New York.

On the Heisman Fan Vote website, nine running backs are in the top 72 for votes. Johnson is not among them.

Nebraska National Award Winners & Finalists

Nebraska football's running backs have been known to be among the best in the game's history. Below are the lists of first-team All-Americans, Doak Walker finalists, and Heisman Trophy finalists for Husker running backs*.

*These lists includes players listed at Huskers.com as running back, I-back, halfback, and fullback.

First-Team All-Americans

Jeff Kinney, I-Back, 1971 (McCook, Neb.)
Jarvis Redwine, I-Back, 1980 (Inglewood, Calif.) (walk-on)
Bobby Reynolds, Halfback, 1950 (Grand Island, Neb.)
Mike Rozier, I-Back, 1982, 1983 (Camden, N.J.)
Sam Francis, Fullback, 1936 (Oberlin, Kan.)
George Sauer, Fullback, 1933 (Lincoln, Neb.)

Doak Walker Finalists

Calvin Jones, 1993 (I-Back, 1991-93, Omaha, Neb.)
Ahman Green, 1997 (I-Back, 1995-97, Omaha, Neb.)
Ameer Abdullah, 2014 (I-Back, 2011-14, Homewood, Ala.)

Heisman Trophy Finalists (Bold indicates winner)

Sam Francis, 1936 - 2nd (Fullback, 1934-36, Oberlin, Kan.)
Bobby Reynolds, 1950 - 5th (Halfback, 1950-52, Grand Island, Neb.)
Jarvis Redwine, 1980 -- 8th (I-Back, 1979-80, Inglewood, Calif.)
Mike Rozier, 1982 -- 10th (I-Back, 1981-83, Camden, N.J.)
Mike Rozier, 1983, 1,801 points (I-back, 1981-83, Camden, N.J.)
Lawrence Phillips, 1994 -- 8th (I-Back, 1993-95, West Covina, Calif.)

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