Sean Tucker Not Named Doak Walker Award Finalist
The finalists were announced on Tuesday for the Doak Walker Award, and Sean Tucker was not among them. Three players were named as finalists, and they include Kenneth Walker of Michigan State, Breece Hall of Iowa State and Tyler Badie of Missouri.
Walker's inclusion was almost a given, but Tucker's exclusion was a bit surprising. Walker is second in the nation in rushing and has been one or two in that category all season. Tucker missing out on being a finalist given the season he has had could be viewed as perplexing. Here is a comparison of the numbers between Tucker, Badie and Hall.
| Player | Rush Yards | Rush Avg | Rush TDs | Rec Yards | Rec TDs | Scrimmage Yards | 100 Yard Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sean Tucker | 1,467 | 6.3 | 12 | 237 | 2 | 1,704 | 9 |
Breece Hall | 1,230 | 5.2 | 17 | 263 | 2 | 1,493 | 6 |
Tyler Badie | 1,385 | 6.1 | 13 | 335 | 4 | 1,720 | 5 |
As you can see, Tucker has the edge in rushing yards, rushing average and 100 yard games. He is second in scrimmage yards. However, he is third in receiving yards, rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. That may be what cost him being a finalist. Still, he is clearly worthy given the season he has had. A tough break for Tucker, but not on that in any way diminishes the historic 2021 campaign.
Other stats not in the table that show Tucker has been the more consistent performer all season. Tucker had zero games under 50 rushing yards. Badie had two while Hall also had none. Tucker had zero games averaging less than 4.0 yards per carry. Badie had two and Hall had four. Tucker had just two games averaging less than 5.0 yards per carrie. Badie had five and Hall had six.
Tucker set the Syracuse single season rushing record, breaking Joe Morris' record that has stood since 1979. Tucker has been the focal point of the Orange's offensive attack, that shifted to a run first scheme once Garrett Shrader was named the starter. Tucker has taken full advantage of that and become of the most dynamic offensive weapons in college football.
