Cowboys Should Make Rodney Fields Jr. a Top Priority for 2026
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys have yet to find a way to win a football game following a week 1 victory over UT Martin. Little has gone right for the Pokes this season. They completely restructured the coaching staff, and many O-State players began to hit the transfer portal. Nearly every Oklahoma State prep prospect decommitted, and the future of the program was in question. In the midst of the confusion, a mighty Phoenix arose from the ashes, and its name was Rodney Fields Jr.
Slicing through the defense @_Rodney4 | 📺: ESPN2 https://t.co/4XFmuncfQv pic.twitter.com/NOdyscmXRb
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 19, 2025
On a football team searching for signs of life, Fields has been the shining light. He showed flashes of greatness a season ago but was able to stay under the redshirt limit and entered 2025 as a redshirt freshman. He started off slow in 2025 and nursed an injury very early on. He made his official debut against Tulsa and rushed for 113 yards on 17 carries. It was the Rodney Fields Jr. Cowboy Nation had been patiently waiting for.
Yet, over the next three football games, his production all but disappeared. Against Baylor, he had 5 carries for 37 yards and followed it up with a nine-carry, 31-yard outing against Arizona. His game against Houston was about the same on the ground as the previous weeks (14 carries for 44 yards). But Fields was able to find the end zone in the receiving game with a 63-yard touchdown reception.
Despite the lopsided score, OSU showed progress on the ground. Running back Rodney Fields Jr. rushed for 190 yards and 27 receiving yards against one of the top 25 rushing defenses in the country.
— News On 6 (@NewsOn6) October 19, 2025
Hear what Meacham had to say here: https://t.co/maajT8IADG pic.twitter.com/uWrGG9R52X
Fields proved that with the football in his hands, he had the ability to make plays. On Saturday, in front of a packed house at Boone Pickens Stadium, Mr. Fields was ready for his coming out party as a Cowboy. For the first time in his career, he was given the football more than 20 times in the game and he produced his best football game on the ground as a Poke.
Fields carried the rock 21 times for 163 yards, which included his first rushing touchdown of the season. He added a long 41-yard run in the game and tacked on another 27 yards in the receiving game. Fields was responsible for over half of the Pokes' total offense in the football game.
OSU postgame video thread, leading with Rodney Fields Jr. after his 163-yard game pic.twitter.com/Q3wV0D3Ddz
— Scott Wright (@ScottWrightOK) October 19, 2025
For the season, Fields has rushed for 420 yards on 76 carries. He is averaging 5.5 yards per carry, which ranks him among some of the best running backs in the nation. Fields has added another 215 receiving yards on 19 receptions, and the freshman now has 635 total yards this season.
Many will forget that RJ Fields is doing most of this damage behind a depleted offensive line and with a quarterback who entered the season as a wide receiver. The future of Cowboy football may be in question but one positive remains. Rodney Fields Jr. is a star and the Pokes need to do everything in their power to ensure he is wearing orange for the next three seasons.
Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.