How Oklahoma Transfer RB Lloyd Avant Brings Versatility to Sooners' Offense

Lloyd Avant was a good player on a bad team in 2025.

Avant, a running back who transferred to Oklahoma in January, rushed for 417 yards and five touchdowns at Colorado State during the fall. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and appeared in all 12 of the Rams’ games as CSU finished the season 2-10.

With Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock both returning in 2026, the Sooners have a strong, young foundation at running back.

But Tyler King, who covers CSU athletics and more for the Denver Gazette, believes that Avant can be a reliable backfield piece at a major program like Oklahoma.

“He wasn’t the ‘home run hitter’ that others in the Rams running back room were, but Lloyd was arguably the most reliable player at the position in terms of his ability to continue to get solid yardage even behind a banged-up offensive line, as well as his ability to stay healthy,” King said.

Avant came to Colorado State in 2025 after spending the 2024 season at Tulsa. In his lone season with the Golden Hurricane, rushed for 259 yards and a touchdown.

It didn’t take long for Avant to become a key part of the Rams’ offense in 2025.

He rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns in CSU’s win over Northern Colorado in Week 2. Avant followed that game up with 96 yards on only 10 carries in a narrow, 17-16 loss against UTSA.

Avant logged more than 50 yards in three of the four games in which he saw double-digit carries. He finished the year with a team-high five rushing touchdowns and registered the second-most carries (90).

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“Avant was always providing solid production when given an opportunity,” King said. “It’s really hard to judge what weaknesses Avant needs to improve because he played on a CSU team that had bad quarterback play and offensive line injuries all season.”

Avant was listed at 5-10 and 200 pounds in 2025.

Corey Rholdon, who covers Colorado State and more for KKTV in Colorado Springs, compared Avant to current Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey.

“Smaller, stockier running back, he has some pop to him,” Rholdon said. “Had about five yards a carry. I don’t know what Colorado State was doing. If you have a running back that’s averaging almost five yards a carry, you pound the rock.”

Avant did plenty more than just running the ball at CSU.

The running back also served as the Rams’ primary kick returner, and he finished the year with 268 return yards and averaged 24.4 yards per return.

Special teams is where King believes Avant can be a star in Norman.

“He quickly became the team’s top kickoff return man and showed why with a 50-yard return in the season opener at Washington,” King said. “I think it starts on special teams. That’s what initially intrigued the CSU coaching staff when they recruited him from Tulsa.”

Avant is also a pass-catching running back.

At Tulsa in 2024, Avant caught 12 passes for 62. He was even more impactful in Colorado State’s passing game in 2025, logging 24 receptions for 261 yards and a touchdown.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer struggled in the back half of the 2025 season, as did the Sooners’ entire offense.

Rholdon believes that Avant can be a safety net for Mateer, giving the quarterback easy, safe completions close to the line of scrimmage.

“It’s always helpful to have a checkdown guy,” Rholdon said. “Your receivers aren’t going to be open all the time, and blitzes are going to come. He’s a safety blanket. That’s good for any quarterback, young or old, to have somebody you can toss to out of the backfield, make one or two guys miss and be reliable. And he did that at Colorado State, where they had a terrible offense.”