Oklahoma State Running Back: The Good, The Great, The Unknown Entering Fall Camp
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Air Raid offenses aren’t always known for how they run the football. Oklahoma State could be an exception.
New head coach Eric Morris showed a commitment to running the football at his previous job at North Texas. He even brought the back with him that turned that offense into a juggernaut and even pulled a former Mean Green star who played for a College Football Playoff team last year.
Oklahoma State on SI continues its fall camp position previews with a look at the running back position.
The Good
The Cowboys only have seven running backs, but every player has talent and five of them have significant college experience. The only freshmen are KD Jones and Javen Hall. Jones set career program records at Jenks (Okla.) High School for rushing yards (4,742), all-purpose yards (5,798), rushing touchdowns (67) and total touchdowns. Hall is a walk-on but rushed for more than 1,000 yards in Washington, Okla.
The other five backs have at least one year of college experience. Two of them have put together 1,000-yard seasons, another came close last year at Tarleton State, and another rushed for more than 1,000 yards at Division II Central Oklahoma.
This might be the deepest position group on the team. Every back has a track record, either in college or in preps, that the Cowboys can lean on.
The Great
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— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) July 23, 2026
Well, that’s Caleb Hawkins. Clearly.
The freshman All-American and second-team all-American a year ago at North Texas should be a star in this offense because he played in the same system last year, along with the same coaching staff and quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
The Shawnee, Okla., native set the NCAA FBS record for touchdowns scored by a freshman with 29 in 2025. He also rushed for 1,434 yards, had 1,804 all-purpose yards and ranked No. 1 in FBS in total touchdowns (29), rushing touchdowns (25), points scored (174) and points per game (13.4).
He has the potential to be a beast. But he has help, too. Ayo Adeyi was a 1,000-yard back at North Texas in 2023 before he transferred to James Madison. Tre Page III would have rushed for 1,000-yard last season at Tarleton State had an injury not forced him to miss a month. William Mason gained more than 1,500 yards at Division II Central Oklahoma.
The Cowboys have depth. But Hawkins is the star of the show.
The Unknown
The biggest lack of clarity with this position group is how the Cowboys will use the backs beyond Hawkins. The sophomore is likely to get 20 to 25 touches per game between rushing and receiving. That won't leave many opportunities for the rest of the players on the roster to get carries or catches during games.
Fall camp workouts are key for the six backs behind Hawkins. They need to prove to the coaching staff that they can be trusted with limited reps without losing yards or footballs. Some of these players are also going to get opportunities on special teams. That should be the case for Jones, given the amount of all-purpose yardage he piled up in high school.
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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