Nate Sheppard made the Doak Walker snub look extra foolish with monster 2026 debut

Remember when the Doak Walker Award committee released its watchlist for the 2026 season and it included 62 different running back names, and not a single one of them was Nate Sheppard?

We remember.

You know who else remembered? Nate Sheppard.

It was obvious that the standout Duke sophomore would use it as motivation this season. His opening statement was beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

With effectively zero help from Walker Eget and the Duke passing offense, Sheppard put the entire team on his back and ran the Blue Devils to a 17-3 win over Tulane. Sheppard carried the ball a career-high 35 times for a career-high 227 yards, while punching in two touchdowns.

He was the best player on the field. He looked like the best running back in the country, proving he's not only a legitimate contender for the Doak Walker Award, but he's immediately near the top of the Heisman Trophy leaderboard after Week 1.

Nate Sheppard looked better than ever in his 2026 debut for Duke

Sheppard burst onto the scene as a freshman, becoming one of the best backs in the ACC. He finished second in the league in rushing, and Duke hit its stride down the stretch of the season when the offense started running through him.

Duke won its last four games last season, all games in which Sheppard carried the ball 20+ times. It will be a rare occasion in 2026 if Sheppard finishes a game with fewer than 20 carries. He's going to be the bellcow, perhaps more so than Diaz and the coaching staff even intended.

Keeping him healthy is going to be paramount to any amount of offensive success. He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, especially if Duke doesn't get better play from the quarterback position moving forward.

Diaz and OC Jonathan Brewer left no room for ambiguity about what Duke planned to do against Tulane in the opener. From the opening script, the Blue Devils pounded the rock with Sheppard. The first drive went 17 plays, 10 of which were Sheppard runs. The drive went 75 yards, culminating in a nine-yard touchdown for the sophomore.

Sheppard bookended the game by shouldering the load for another 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. With Duke clinging to a 10-3 lead, Sheppard engineered a lengthy drive that put the final nail in the Tulane coffin. He punctuated the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run.

The Doak Walker folks probably wish they had a do-over. That was one of the most egregious watch list misses of all time. Fortunately for Duke, it might work as the perfect extra motivation for their star RB.

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