What's Next for Kansas State After Dylan Edwards' Transfer?
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Running back Dylan Edwards' season is officially over — and his career as a Kansas State Wildcat is expected to be too.
According to multiple sources, Edwards is expected to enter the transfer portal after the season. He is taking a redshirt and will be out for the remainder of the 2025 season after appearing in just four games and dealing with various injuries.
NEW: Kansas State RB Dylan Edwards plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/YJF21j8eWv https://t.co/wB1fZBcXlf pic.twitter.com/DsNHp41DxS
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) November 7, 2025
Edwards' season started rocky when he exited a Week 0 contest with the Iowa State Cyclones before taking a single snap on offense. He was injured on a punt return and did not come back until Week 3 against the Arizona Wildcats.
Despite returning to the field on Sept. 12, he only played nine snaps. A fortunately timed bye week gave Edwards time to recover, and he returned on Sept. 27 against the UCF Knights. It was his best game of the year: 20 carries for 166 yards and the speed to transform K-State's offense.
However, things did not remain so simple. Edwards played 29 snaps in Week 6 and never returned to the field, leading to an eventual redshirt and expected offseason transfer.
This season, Edwards played just 91 snaps on offense, taking 34 carries for 205 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 17 yards.
Edwards started his career with the Colorado Buffaloes in the Pac-12, rushing for 321 yards and one touchdown as a freshman. Colorado struggled to run the ball all season, but his two-way versatility was on display — 4.2 yards per carry and 299 receiving yards with four touchdowns while averaging 21 yards per kick return.
Just like Colorado, he joined the Big 12 in 2024, but Edwards did so by joining the Wildcats. He played alongside running back DJ Giddens, totaling 679 scrimmage yards with seven scores. In 2025, he was expected to move into a 1A role, but injuries complicated things. He will now look for his third school in four seasons, with two years of eligibility remaining.
While Edwards was struggling with injury early in the season, K-State struggled to find any consistency in its running game. The slow start could be partially attributed to a lack of carries for quarterback Avery Johnson or a slow start for sophomore running back Joe Jackson.
KSU had very few answers on the ground outside of Edwards — Jackson and DeVon Rice had just 43 and one career carries, respectively, entering the year. Fortunately, Jackson found his stride as the season progressed, including a career game against the TCU Horned Frogs: 27 carries for 110 yards.
Before Edwards' explosive performance against UCF, Kansas State averaged just 108 rushing yards and 1.25 touchdowns per game on the ground. Since that UCF game, they have increased that number to 143.25 rushing yards and 1.75 touchdowns per game.
There is still plenty of room for improvement, as that number would rank just 12th in the conference in rushing yards per game. Most of the production has come from Johnson, who has seven of the team's 14 rushing touchdowns. With Edwards away, the Wildcats' No. 3 rusher is Rice, who has fewer than 100 rushing yards.
Jackson and Rice are expected to be the team's leading rushers going forward. Only three other running backs have at least one carry — Antonio Martin Jr., JB Price, and Monterrio Elston Jr. — and none have more than 20 rushing yards. All five have eligibility beyond 2025 and could return in 2026.
However, the Wildcats have just one running back recruit in the Class of 2026, three-star back HD Davis from Wolfe City, Texas. He's the 90th-ranked player at his position, according to 247Sports' Composite Rankings.
K-State seems like a strong candidate to be in the market for a running back during the transfer portal cycle this offseason, but the future of their backfield in 2026 and beyond remains uncertain.
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Jordan Epp is a journalist who graduated from Texas A&M in 2022 and is passionate about telling stories, sharing news, and finding ways to entertain people through the medium of sports. He has formerly worked as a writer and editor at The Battalion and The Eagle, covering football in College Station, Texas, and served as the managing editor for PFSN.