Duke Running Back Sends Strong Message Amidst Award List Snub

The Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List was announced today, and it left off one of the ACC’s best running backs from last season.

Duke’s Nate Sheppard was one of the top freshman running backs last season and didn’t take the snub from the 62-person list kindly.

He posted to X with a GIF of Kobe Bryant saying, “We’ll see … That’s all.”

Duke Football also went to X, posting a 10-minute highlight reel of Sheppard’s freshman season.

“Somehow, this guy isn’t on the Doak Walker Preseason watch list… So here are 10 minutes of @NateShep20 highlights,” the post said.

Sheppard Remains One of the Best in the ACC

Sheppard’s new bulletin-board material could push him to an even better sophomore season. Last year, the Duke tailback ran for 1,132 yards, good for 21st in the country, alongside 11 touchdowns. Sheppard didn’t see real RB1 snaps until the Blue Devils’ fourth game, making his production that much more impressive.

His stellar year landed him in the top ten of ESPN’s 25 best freshman of the 2025 season. In the running back position, he was only behind North Texas’ — now Oklahoma State’s — Caleb Hawkins and Ohio State’s Bo Jackson.

Sheppard set multiple records at Duke, and now pushes to be even better in 2026.

“Every offseason, I live by the mantra ‘bigger, stronger, faster,'” Sheppard said in an interview with ACC Digital Network. “That’s what I want to do every year.”

Sheppard’s Snub a Microcosm of Duke’s Offseason

GettyCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – DECEMBER 06: Darian Mensah #10 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after a touchdown during overtime in the 2025 ACC Football Championship against the Virginia Cavaliers at Bank of America Stadium on December 06, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

The Duke Blue Devils had a rollercoaster of a year in 2025. Despite a 7-5 finish in the regular season, they made the ACC Championship Game and beat No. 17 Virginia in overtime.

The Blue Devils finished off the season with a 42-39 victory over Arizona State — a game that saw Sheppard run for a season-best 170 yards. Mostly due to star quarterback Darian Mensah transferring to Miami in the offseason, analysts consider Duke to be in the lower tier of the ACC this year despite a strong finish to the year.

Mensah, now in Coral Gables, is a Heisman Trophy hopeful with National Championship aspirations.

For Duke, a lot of roster turnover and defensive concerns have led to them falling in preseason polls. The ACC preseason poll picked the Blue Devils to finish 10th out of 17, with a pretty large gap between them and ninth-place Pitt.

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