Herschel Walker's Heisman, national title picks might surprise you – Sporting News
Herschel Walker watches a lot of college football. While he’s still partial to his alma mater of Georgia, his picks to win both the 2016 Heisman Trophy and national championship are a bit surprising.
Walker, who was a landslide winner of the Heisman in 1982, has a vote as a previous winner of college football’s most prestigious award.
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At the top of his 2016 Heisman watch list is LSU running back Leonard Fournette. But he did say Georgia junior Nick Chubb could challenge Fournette if Chubb has fully recovered from a devastating knee injury last October.
“The running backs are going to be there,” Walker told Omnisport last week. “Look at Leonard Fournette from LSU; he’s going to be a front-runner. And if Chubb is healthy, he’s going to be up there as well.
“Those are the guys who I think are going to be bringing the running backs back a little bit.”
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Chubb ran for 266 yards and two touchdowns in the 2014 Belk Bowl to finish his freshman season with 1,547 yards. Those numbers trailed only Walker’s 283 yards against Vanderbilt in 1980 and freshman-record 1,616 rushing yards while helping Georgia win a national championship. While he came close to breaking Walker’s freshman records, Chubb knew immediately the name of the man who owned the marks.
“He’s very in tune with Georgia,” Walker said of Chubb. “Nick Chubb is going to be great. He’s going to set some people on fire. Nick Chubb has proven what he can do. He works hard and he’s a good kid.
“He’s a guy who works extremely hard. That’s what’s so great about him. He got injured and he’s back out there ready to work. Those are the types of players Georgia wants and that they need right now. They’re a young team and being in the SEC is tough.”
Walker spent 12 seasons in the NFL and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection, but says he watches more college football than the NFL. While Walker, a 1999 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, loves his Bulldogs and attended the Georgia spring game this year, his national championship pick did not come from the SEC.
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He said Alabama will be “strong,” but picked Clemson, led by junior quarterback Deshaun Watson — who was third in Heisman voting last year — to win it all.
Walker still might be a little biased, however. Milan Richard, a redshirt freshman tight end for the Tigers, is Walker’s nephew.
