The preseason honors continue to roll in for UNC junior tailback Elijah Hood.

After being named a candidate for the Maxwell Award last week, the Charlotte native was announced Thursday as one of 78 players to watch for the Doak Walker Award.

Given annually to the best running back in the country, the award is the only major collegiate honor that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.

A two-time Academic All-American, Hood likely won’t have problems with either of the award’s two main criteria.

He’s one of the nicest people you can talk to off the field, but in between the white lines he’s about as mean as it gets–using his destructive running style to bull through defenders like cardboard cutouts.

Hood’s 1,463 rushing yards in 2015 ranked third in the ACC, but earned the distinction as the second-most prolific season in UNC history behind only Don McCauley’s 1,720 yards in 1970.

Should he build upon his yardage total and the 17 touchdowns he scored a year ago, it’s not out of the question to think Hood could find himself at the Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 8 to pick up a few prizes.

Until then, though, he’ll actually have to play the games.

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