VP's End of Year Awards (2025)
It's officially that time again--strap in, and join VP as he delivers his coveted stuffed pigs and Known Degenerate Pig Farming licenses to the lucky winners. Some coal will also be handed out...
His heart is cold, no need to ask, he’s a smooooth operator… 🎵
- SADE, musician
Well hello there… I hope you are enjoying your holidays and getting in some relaxation currently.
Indeed, it was Christmas yesterday, for those who celebrate, and I’m in the spirit of giving right now, so I figured I’d release this article earlier than intended (New Year's was originally the plan).
The end of the year naturally brings about a period of reflection, and I’d be remiss to close out 2025 without revealing who were the lucky recipients of my coveted stuffed pigs and Known Degenerate Pig Farming Licenses (KDPF certification) this year.
‘Twas a busy time for this writer, making stops on my sleigh in Omaha, Oxford, Provo… and many places in between. Some places welcomed me with a cold one and some chocolate chip cookies (my favourite), others, the reception was not as warm. That’s OK, it’s all part of the job.
Anyways, without further ado, let’s get into this thing.
NEW ENTRANTS IN DA CLUB
I’m sure everyone reading this is familiar with musician 50 Cent’s star single “In Da Club” which is an undisputed banger, and was his first big hit in the music industry, introducing him to a whole new audience at the time.
The song itself is a cool jam, but the lore of it being the launching pad of his career just adds to the cool factor in my opinion. Indeed, there’s something captivating about the birth of a new star.
In the college football world, the year 2025 bared witness to a whole cast of new characters joining the esteemed V(I)P Alpha Pig Club, as well as the innovative thought leaders around them, otherwise known as their coaches.
Now, you’ll have to forgive me for giving some preference to ‘my guys’ who helped my squads win a lot of games this year—what can I say, I’m very familiar with this bunch, but we’ll be covering all of the deserving entities in this list, don’t you worry.
So on that note, let me first kick things off with the one I’m calling the Smooth Operator from here on out:
Nebraska’s EMMETT JOHNSON.
This cat is smooth, man. Silky running style and he always makes the first man miss. He flirted with CFF RB1 all year, and came close at the final bell, falling behind only Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and UNT’s breakout freshman Caleb Hawkins in PPG (PPR scoring).
However, in terms of consistency from cover to cover (i.e. week one to week 14), I put EJ above all. It’s not necessarily Hawkins’, nor Love’s fault, but more so the decision makers around them. Hawkins didn’t breakout fully until Sept. 20, and Love wasn’t used much against Miami in week one.
Despite a massive workload (311 opportunities, over 290 touches), EJ didn’t miss a single game this year, and never scored less than 10 points like Hawkins and Love did. Love him or hate him—one has to admit that this guy put in massive work this year. I don't know what his gym routine is, but the durability alone was OUTSTANDING, and helped carry my squad in the Golden Pig Invitational to a third place finish.
Not only did he earn a new nickname (the first ever of its kind given out), EJ earned first ballot VP Hall of Fame status for his work in 2025. That’s right—send this one straight to the hall baby and let’s pop the bubbly in clubs all over Omaha. 🥂🥂🥂
And of course, whenever a new Pig is born, the engineers behind this feat must be recognized as well.
I have to admit, I was not a believer that Dana Holgerson (OC) nor Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule would dish out substantial volume to one runner coming into this season. Indeed, my logic was pretty straight forward: neither had notable track records at RB through their lengthy CFB histories.
And I do recall Matt Rhule trying to take work away from EJ midseason, claiming that the Huskers needed to find a #2 to take some of the carry volume. But Holgerson held firm. Good on him.
I think Nebraska 2025 was just a perfect storm of three main influences: 1) a really good, NFL back, in the backfield, 2) poor options behind him, and 3) an OK but not great QB, and (bonus) a good offensive line.
You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes, you feel me? I know Dana feels me, who practically broke down in tears when I delivered his stuffed pig this Christmas at his doorstep. Like a fat Santa handing out goodies—every coach in America waits his whole life like a little kid for this moment, and when I show up with a stuffed pig, it’s always special. His wife and kids couldn’t have been happier either; simply put, it was a joyous scene all around.
I cannot say whether Dana will continue the impressive work he started into 2026, as his career as a whole points in the opposite direction, but that’s a question for another day. For now, let us all rejoice as brothers and sisters welcoming a new member into the family: congratulations Dana!!
And on that note, let us recognize a very similar story line in Denton…
UNT’s CALEB HAWKINS.
Speaking of unexpected pigs, North Texas freshman Caleb Hawkins was a really, really, unexpected gift this year. Neither of his coaches—Eric Morris, nor OC Jordan Davis (not to be confused with the DT for Philly), have an impressive resume at RB in their short histories as play callers in CFB.
Morris’ first play calling season came at Washington State in 2022, where his lead pig Nakia Watson led the charge with only 144 carries. Yuck.
For context, despite not starting the year, Hawkins finished with 230 touches in 12 games.
I think this one, like with Dana, meant so much to him when he received his stuffed pig because he knows all too well through repeated experience just how disheartening it is to receive a lump of coal for Christmas, coldly tagged “From VP. Merry Christmas”.
Indeed, when I entered into Morris’ cottage this December I could not help but recognize the bags of coal sitting around his fire place that I had sent to him over the years. My gosh, in some years I must have sent a few lumps of coal his way—what a spiteful man I am.
This time was a happier occasion. Morris and Davis both accepted their stuffed pig as co-recipients (how cute). We chatted with a healthy dosage of rum-spiked eggnog in our hands by the fire, raving about what a great job Morris and co. did this season, not just at RB, but really all around on offence.
I liked the cut of their jibs so much that I even slipped each an all expenses paid trip to Papua New Guinea for the holidays. Merry Christmas Chad, and best of luck next year in Oklahoma!
Next up…
JMU’s WAYNE KNIGHT.
I just love welcoming new entrants into the brotherhood. I think it does my heart good on holiday season.
Sure, JMU’s season ended on a tough note in the CFP, but we as CFF players don’t care about that, now do we? Seinfeld’s sidekick over here was another pig in my bullpen for the Golden Pig Invitational, and he definitely put in some major work this fall.
Despite many believing that Mr. George Pettaway would be the starter for the Dukes this year, Wayne Knight was the hero we didn’t deserve but needed all along.
Some may say I’m reaching a little bit here, but when I drop this next fact on the haters they all quiet down real quick: Knight was so productive that he led the Dukes in rushing yards and receptions on the regular season. Think about that.
He totalled 267 opportunities, and 247 total touches including the CFP appearance, which is good, but not truly great. He will be welcomed in as a second ballot VP HoFer this Christmas season and I know he’s thrilled about that.
What’s even more exciting is that technically he has eligibility to return next year in CFB if he wants it. His head coach, who we’ll talk about momentarily, left for UCLA so we’ll see what happens there. Should Knight return to the Dukes, I’d imagine he’ll be a highly sought after CFF asset in 2026 drafts regardless of who takes over as new coaching staff.
Now, the aforementioned Bob Chesney is who I’m referring to when I say it’s always great welcoming new members into the brotherhood. Chesney’s sample size in the FBS as a play caller is limited, but I was not inspired by 149 carries from George Pettaway last year in a complete committee approach.
Chesney redeemed himself this year and is now 1-1 in terms of seasons with a pig in his backfield. I suspect his UCLA offence will resemble more that of his 2024 Dukes, but here’s hoping the buzz from the stuffed pig (comes with some of my special egg nog recipe and a few quaaludes on the house) is enough to inspire him to stick to his winning ways in 2026. LFG BOB!
BYU’s LJ Martin.
You knew it was coming. We’ve held firm three years now in the LJ Martin fan club and never once considered jumping ship—that’s dedication. In the year 2025, the loyalty finally paid off.
For the first time in his career, LJ Martin made it through a full season unscathed on the injury front. He did so while handling 236 carries, and another 36 receptions on 41 targets, for a total of 272 touches on the year (13 appearances).
While head coach Kilane Sitake got a lot of the headlines this fall, it’s really OC Aaron Roderick who is the star of the show from a CFF standpoint. He’s been recognized for these awards in the past during his time at Utah, but it had been quite some time (Tyler Allgeier, BYU, 2021), since his offences featured a pig worth recognizing.
Good on him for recapturing the flame, and lord willing, the flame will continue to burn bright into 2026 with either LJ Martin again or, a new protege.
LJ MARTIN—second ballot VP HoFer inductee!!
Others who I want to recognize:
UVA’s OC Des Kitchens for his great work with FCS transfer RB J’Mari Taylor. While UVA head coach Tony Elliot has some breadcrumbs of pig-usage from his time at Clemson, Mr. Kitchens had nothing of the sort entering the 2025 season. His lead back finished the year with an earth-shattering 267 touches. Well done.
UConn OC Gordon Sammis (who’s now at TCU, btw, just a heads up), for blasting Skyler Bell with 145 targets
USC head coach Lincoln Riley, for recapturing the flame of his best Oklahoma teams, channeling the spirit of Ceedee Lamb via Makai Lemon
Even though the season-total numbers won’t wow the observer, I do want to recognize the NC State staff for finally feeding a pig like Daylen Smothers this fall. Smothers smashed the NC State PPG record for RBs despite fizzling out in November. If not for an injury and a terrible stretch to end the year, Smothers clears 20 PPG easily in PPR formats and is a 200+ touch gangster.
Staying in the same region… at some point the PSU staff realized RB Kaytron Allen is just straight up better than N. Singleton, and began feeding him. PSU hasn’t had a true pig at RB since Miles Sanders and Sa’Quon in the late 2010s, so this was refreshing.
KNOWN DEGENERATE PIG FARMING LICENSES (KDPF Designation)
This award is for those who are at a different level—they have produced pigs of the plumpest variety in their backfields for multiple seasons now, and show no signs of slowing down.
A class of men whose usage of their RB1s borders on the verge of downright labour abuse, if you will. Despite all the signs telling them to administer some load management, they simply refuse. They cannot be broken. They will fight for what is right, no matter the circumstances!
And most importantly—they will dish out 30 touches to their star running back in his first game returning from a major injury. With that said, where else to start than the stalwart in Minneapolis himself—a veteran of these lists:
Minnesota’s PJ FLECK.
featuring Darius Taylor
This dude is a fucking mad man. Indeed, it’s becoming old hat at this point to make the old familiar hike up to his cottage on Lake Superior and hand him his well-earned stuffed pig. Thankfully, he’s always got a cold one ready for your boy and the hot tub bubbling.
And I wasn’t sure if it was his cellphone poking out of his trousers when that same old wry PJ smile animated his face—the moment I told him that not only would he receive a stuffed pig, his KDPF license would also be renewed for the new year.
He and I then proceeded to discuss things about the game… transfer portal nonsense, NIL, we both make jokes about how much of a wanker Ryan Day is:
“Why does he keep trying to play bully ball against these inferior squads PJ—IU, UM—he’s tryna get like you guys except he has Jeremiah Smith at WR… how’s he keep losing these games? Does anybody know—does he know??? 😂😭”
*CLINK of beer bottles & loud obnoxious laughter* “Cheers buddy” 🥂