Versatility in the Backfield

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Brian Anderson has coached an All-Big 12 Conference running back in each of his first six seasons as Kansas State running backs coach, including two of the four players in school history to record multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons in Deuce Vaughn and DJ Giddens.

In fact, a K-State running back has amassed at least 1,000 rushing yards in each of the past four seasons, the longest-such stretch at K-State since 2001 through 2004.

Anderson stepped into the Vanier Family Football Complex shortly before 11:00 a.m. on Thursday wearing a hat and beads of sweat after another training camp session finished up in the indoor practice facility — a practice without NFL-departed Giddens, who was taken by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2025 NFL Draft.

These running backs for 2025 are making the man work.

But in the best way possible.

Never before has Anderson had a running back room with so much depth.

"I think this is the deepest room," Anderson said. "You have one through four, and maybe one through five, instead of just one and two, and maybe three. Obviously, one and two were really, really good over the years, but now you've got three and four, and a possible five that can come in and carry the load, too."

Is the prospect of relying upon multiple running backs almost…refreshing?

"That's the plan," Anderson said. "It's about what it's going to take to win the game. If it's multiple guys, it's multiple guys."

K-State, a popular choice by outsiders as a favorite to reach the Big 12 Championship Game, features junior quarterback Avery Johnson, who is regarded as one of the finest signal-callers in the FBS, and first-year offensive coordinator Matt Wells, who was deemed by The Associated Press as "one of the game's top offensive minds."

K-State head coach Chris Klieman in discussing the offense at a news conference Monday said that "one game, our tight ends are going to have a really good game, second game maybe it's the running backs, third game maybe it's wideouts," to illustrate the bevy of options this expected high-octane offensive attack might possess this fall.

Anderson notes: "It could be really dangerous."

This comes after K-State finished the 2024 season ranked No. 2 in the FBS with 6.08 yards per carry and 11^th nationally with 215.5 rushing yards per game, while K-State also set school records with 6.57 offensive yards per play and 6.08 rushing yards per carry, and ranked fourth with 426.8 offensive yards per game, fifth with 5,549 total offensive yards, and sixth with 2,801 rushing yards.

Some of those rushing yards came from running back Dylan Edwards, who went for a career-high 196 yards and two touchdowns, and caught two passes and another touchdown, in helping lead the Wildcats to a 44-41 win over Rutgers in the Rate Bowl.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Edwards, had 74 carries for 546 yards and five touchdowns to go along with 19 catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns while appearing in 12 games with six starts during his first season in Manhattan.

His 7.4-yard rushing average ranked No. 1 among all Power 4 running backs (minimum 70 carries), while he teamed with DJ Giddens (6.6) and Johnson (5.4) to make K-State the only Power 4 team to harbor three players that averaged at least 5.4 yards per attempt (minimum 70 carries).

Anderson and Edwards, who runs above 23 miles per hour, aren't satisfied.

"It's kind of funny because I went back and watched it this morning when I came into the office," Anderson said. "His contact balance is pretty special for a guy his size. You look at his weight room numbers, and he's a really strong kid for his size, and he can run through contact really, really well. Now he's at the point where we're not just going to run through contact, we're going to make people miss. It's about seeing it and setting guys up to make them miss."

One big key for Edwards heading toward the fall?

"He's more comfortable because of the offense," Anderson said. "It takes time. The next step for anyone who comes into my room is they have to learn football and defenses. That helps their mental approach in a big way. Seeing pictures, that's' when the big plays happen. And then you can prove it and show him on film. I'll say, 'What did you see here?' And he'll say, 'I saw the safety move down, the linebacker in the B gap and not the A gap.'

"He has done a really good job understanding that part of it, and it's going to help his game get to the next level."

Expect 6-foot, 212-pound sophomore Joe Jackson to see more carries after he proved himself in limited action a year ago. Jackson had 39 carries for 227 yards and one touchdown to go along with six catches for 63 yards and one touchdown while appearing in 10 games.

"Joe has done a really good job," Anderson said. "He was fortunate to be with DJ and see how he handled his business on and off the field. He's taken that to another level, also. It's still a learning process. I know everybody wants it right now, but it's a process, and Joe has done a really good job with that."

Junior Antonio Martin Jr. is a 5-foot-9, 222-pound junior transfer from Southeastern Louisiana who was a Walter Payton Award finalist with 1,228 yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago. Redshirt freshman JB Price is a 5-foot-10, 196-pound native of Overland Park, Kansas, who rushed for nearly 2,000 yards his final two seasons at Blue Valley High School and was the No. 4-rated overall prospect in the state of Kansas by ESPN.

But it's the potential surge by another running back as an all-around threat that is perhaps opening eyes.

"A guy that jumps out at me that's a skilled kid that's playing some wide receiver, a running back for us, is DeVon Rice,'" Klieman said in his news conference. "DeVon Rice flashes."

The 5-foot-9, 182-pound Rice is a redshirt freshman who carried the ball one time at running back last season. He played in four games as a kickoff return specialist, retaining his redshirt. He returned four kickoffs for 97 yards (24.3-yard average), including a dramatic season-long 36-yarder at Colorado.

"He's a fast, explosive kid who was injured some in spring and didn't get a great chance, and who had a really good kick return last year against Colorado, but was just trying to find his way," Klieman said. "He's an explosive guy that's playing with a lot of confidence, which helps us a bunch to have that other person with Dylan of the same skill set that we could put them both in the backfield or both out as a wide receiver or in the return game."

Anderson said, "He's done a really good job."

"He's come in and has gained weight and has done all the little things right now," Anderson continued. "The biggest thing is to not get into your own way. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to be perfect. Sometimes, it's not going to be perfect, and you'll get a 1-yard run or a 5-yard run and sometimes you'll have to make a guy miss. It's like, 'How's my alignment?' I'll say, 'It was good.' He'll say, 'How was my footwork?' I'll say, 'It was good.' He'll say, 'How was my aiming point?' I'll say, 'It was good.' And then we'll move on."

As for Klieman's suggestion of having two running backs out as wide receivers? That goes back to the potential danger of this Wildcats offense in 2025. Versatility can kill.

"It's been proven over the years," Anderson said. "When I'm out looking for guys, I want guys who have versatility. That helps our offense in a big way. We have to keep the defense on its toes. We have guys who can split out in the slot and run routes out of the backfield. That helps everything out.

"The biggest thing is the versatility they all have and not just having one guy or two guys, but having five guys who can do a lot of different things. That's what helps."

With the bevy of running back potential, Anderson has plenty to keep an eye on.

He likes what he's seeing from the deepest group of running back talent that he's been around in the Little Apple.

"We're getting everybody reps," he said. "It's so early in the stages. The most important thing is making sure everybody is getting the reps they need to get better. I was upfront: "There's a competition, guys.' Guys who used to be in our room, Deuce Vaughn, and the other guys who used to be in our room, it was a competition every single day.

"We have a competitive room. We owe it to our football program and K-State fans that we get the best football player on the field and that he understands about competing every day."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dylan Edwards

DJ Giddens

Joe Jackson

Avery Johnson

Antonio Martin Jr.

JB Price

DeVon Rice

Related Videos