Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 63-7vs Utah Tech | 7 | 54 | 7.7 | 0 | 17 | |
| Wk 2 | W 28-17vs Arizona | 20 | 98 | 4.9 | 0 | 20 | Season-high 98 yds |
| Total | 27 | 152 | 6.3 | 0 | 20 |
#4
LJ Martin
LJ Martin led the Big 12 in rushing and won Offensive Player of the Year. He could have moved on. Instead he's "not done yet" -- back to chase BYU's career rushing record and the program's first real Playoff push.
6′2″ · 225 lb · El Paso, TX
CFB Index 86 · #10 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceNational watchReturning to BYU for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
152
rushing yards · 2026
5.6 per carry · 3 catches
2 games into 2026 so far -- Backed by 22 car · 95 yds · 3 TD -- top 1% rushing TDs game. -- Best game: 98 rush yds, 27 rec yds, vs Arizona
Swing playSwung BYU from 28% to 57% to win.BYU at Iowa State · 41-27
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
LJ Martin led the Big 12 in rushing and won Offensive Player of the Year. He could have moved on. Instead he's "not done yet" -- back to chase BYU's career rushing record and the program's first real Playoff push.
- Signed as a 3-star recruit to BYU in 2023.
- Named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2025.
- Named Preseason All-America in 2026.
Aura™ · Him Watch
Hype = tape
+13aura tax
Fans rank this player in the 90th percentile of RBs; the tape says
77th pctl our rushing-value metric (wEPA) RBs · 140 qualified, n=133
— the discourse is fair.Aura — fan perception90th pctl
Production — on-field77th pctl
n=133 mentions · cohort: RBs · 140 qualified · perception = conversation volume, production = our rushing-value metric (wEPA)
Buzz vs Tape
Country hotter than the fans
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 21.4 points in belief.
36.1own fans
57.5national conversation
The BYU Cougars claim the spotlight as Big 12 favorites, with sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier and dynamic running back LJ Martin poised to lead one of college football’s most compelling teams into the upcoming season. After…
Also worth knowing:
In Their Words
327 windows · 2026 fan posts
byu×87.2bachmeier×475.8bear×65.1fit×45.9sure×16.8running×6.9rushing×9.6passing×8.1
“[Podcast] CONTROVERSY: BYU’s LJ Martin Honored & Utah IGNORED—Should Big 12 Fans Demand All-American RESPECT? | AP Poll Shenanigans & AD's Courting Controvery From: Locked On Cougars podcast”
reddit/BYUFootball · fan post, verbatim
The story
He led the Big 12 in rushing with 1,305 yards on a conference-high 236 carries, scored 12 times, added 36 catches, and walked off with Offensive Player of the Year -- the workhorse engine of a BYU team with rising ambitions. He returns for his senior season with two prizes in sight: the school's career rushing record (within about 1,347 yards) and a CFP berth, paired with quarterback Bear Bachmeier in a backfield built to contend. The forward stakes are legacy and a ceiling: the most-used back in his conference, chasing a number that would etch him into BYU history and a season that could put the Cougars in the Playoff for the first time. For Martin, 2026 is the year the productive grinder goes for something permanent.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Martin is a high-volume, reliable lead back rather than a flashy one. Our play-by-play has him solidly above-average -- a 67th-percentile yards-per-carry on the heaviest workload in his conference -- with the efficiency profile of a grinder (mid-pack success rate and EPA per carry) who wins by accumulation and durability more than explosion. He's a dependable receiver too (36 catches), the every-down sort a Playoff hopeful can lean on for 25 touches without blinking. The game is steadiness: he doesn't come off the field, he doesn't fumble away games, and over four quarters the yards pile up. For a team chasing its first Playoff, that kind of bell-cow reliability is its own form of star power.
Written by our staff.
202310 games
- Signed with BYU3-star out of Canutillo
202513 games
- Big 12 Offensive Player of the Yearwinner
- All-Big 12first
2026
- Preseason All-AmericaSecond Team
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
BYU
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🥇
ALL-AMERICA
All-America honors (2026)
1 mentions across the selector pool
🥈
ALL-BIG 12 · 1ST TEAM
All-Big 12 1st team (2025)
Badges
- Honors Badge
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
1 coach2023–2026
Played his entire career under Kalani Sitake.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
4 seasons under Kalani Sitake — 30-11 over that span.
2023BYU5-7HC: Kalani Sitake · Balanced
2024BYU11-2HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning
2025BYU12-2HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning
2026BYU2-0HC: Kalani Sitake · Balanced, fast tempo
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
Box-score percentiles
High confidenceSustained Ascent
Elite: yards / carry (80th percentile). Concern: rush yards (0th percentile).
Box-score rates (7)
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 76.0 YDS/g, 6.3 YPC, 0.0 TD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalani Sitake
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
All-Conference 1st team
First team in his league at the position.
our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #10 of 326 FBS backs by CFB Index Score.2025 profile
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Production · CFB Index Score
86 · #10 of 326 RBs
Three-star recruit. Now #10 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-Big 12
Based on 2025: #1 of 35 Big 12 RBs
How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed
49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
Selector Grid · 2026
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 28–17
vs Arizona
98 rush yds (20 car)
With B. Bachmeier — 217 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.7 · 37 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD · F. Shurtz — 46 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 53 LONG
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 2 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.80(02:02) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush middle for 20 yards gain to the BYU45 (#6 T.Brown; #15 M.Hartzog), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Arizona · 3&7 · Q4 · EPA +1.75(01:13) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush left for 16 yards gain to the ARIZ03 (#6 T.Brown), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.37(13:49) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush left for 9 yards gain to the BYU47 (#35 Q.Olson)
- Week 2 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +1.05(08:16) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush middle for 9 yards gain to the BYU27 (#23 G.Hunter; #48 C.Blomstrom)
- Week 1 · Utah Tech · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +0.88(11:22) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush left for 13 yards gain to the BYU31 (#2 B.Czosnyka; #17 Q.Lejay), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Arizona · 3&1 · Q2 · EPA +0.85(01:16) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush middle for 1 yard gain to the ARIZ45 (#15 M.Hartzog), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA -0.74(13:52) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush right for 1 yard gain to the BYU32 (#17 L.Molette III; #48 C.Blomstrom)
- Week 2 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +0.74(10:24) Shotgun #47 B.Bachmeier pass complete short to #4 L.Martin caught at ARIZ29, for 23 yards to the ARIZ06 (#35 Q.Olson), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA -0.48(03:54) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush middle for 1 yard gain to the ARIZ32 (#99 M.Pese; #44 P.Williams)
- Week 2 · Arizona · 2&1 · Q2 · EPA -0.42(14:25) Shotgun #4 L.Martin rush left for 1 yard gain to the BYU46 (#96 Z.Siulepa), 1ST DOWN
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Martin is a high-volume, reliable lead back rather than a flashy one. Our play-by-play has him solidly above-average -- a 67th-percentile yards-per-carry on the heaviest workload in his conference -- with the efficiency profile of a grinder (mid-pack success rate and EPA per carry) who wins by accumulation and durability more than explosion. He's a dependable receiver too (36 catches), the every-down sort a Playoff hopeful can lean on for 25 touches without blinking. The game is steadiness: he doesn't come off the field, he doesn't fumble away games, and over four quarters the yards pile up. For a team chasing its first Playoff, that kind of bell-cow reliability is its own form of star power.
Our classifier reads him the same way: just keeps getting the ball, series after series.
2026 Outlook
BYU
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Running back · BYU
Returning around him
- 78% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
- 2 BYU players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -5 net (9 in / 14 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
BYU · Last season: 12-2 (AP #12) · Talent rank #59 · 2026 recruiting class #21
DNA match
Player DNA
Workhorse
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Ollie Gordon’s 2023 season.
73%match
Matches Ollie on
Weight
Yards / carry
Yards / reception
Differs from Ollie on
Class year (higher)
Rush TD rate (lower)
Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Rhamondre Stevenson’s path through Oklahoma.
91%match
NFL Rd 4
#4
Cooper Wallace
84%
Matches Rhamondre on
Yards per carry
Recruiting rating
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Ollie Gordon's junior season at Oklahoma State (2024).
78%match
Matches Ollie on
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Weight
Recruiting rating
Player DNA
Players who play like LJ Martin
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #148
Peaked at #148 this season.
The backfield · BYU
- #4LJ Martin1,305 rushing yards · 2025
- #28Jovesa Damuni111 rushing yards · 2025
- #30Sione I Moa92 rushing yards · 2025
- #21Enoch Nawahine82 rushing yards · 2025
- #41Lucky Finau32 rushing yards · 2025
7 more on the roster · BYU team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology