College Football's Rushing Leader Ranked No. 5 Running Back in Transfer Portal

The leading rusher in the 2025 college football season has been ranked as the fifth-best transfer portal running back in the 2026 cycle.

Jacksonville State Gamecocks running back Cam Cook(4) dives in for a touchdown against the UTEP Miners at Sun Bowl Stadium | Ivan Pierre Aguirre/Special to El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A busy cycle of shuffling in college football caused by the NCAA transfer portal wrapped up near the end of January.

Between the beginning of December 2025 and the end of the portal's two-week entry window, thousands of players decided to search for greener pastures. Some players who were on the move jumped from one Power Four program to another, but others transferred from Group of Five programs to Power Four programs to increase their national exposure.

One player who hit the portal to increase his national exposure was former Jacksonville State running back Cam Cook, who transferred to West Virginia. He will have one season of eligibility with the Mountaineers.

West Virginia is the third program Cook will suit up for in his college football career. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder began his journey at TCU as a four-star recruit in the Horned Frogs' 2023 signing class. Cook saw action in eight games that season, logging 16 carries for 58 yards.

Cook emerged as TCU's leading rusher in 2024. He carried the ball 119 times for 460 yards and nine touchdowns while catching 18 passes for 75 yards in what was a pass-happy offense for the Horned Frogs that season. He entered the NCAA transfer portal prior to the Horned Frogs' trip to the New Mexico Bowl.

Jacksonville State was the team to land Cook out of the portal in the 2025 offseason. It was a breakout season for Cook; he finished the year with an FBS-high 1,659 rush yards and 16 touchdowns while catching 30 passes for 286 more yards. Cook ran for more than 100 yards in all but three games in his lone season with the Gamecocks.

Conference USA named Cook its MVP and Newcomer of the Year, giving him an All-Conference USA First Team distinction. Nationally, Cook was named to the Associated Press All-America Third Team.

Pro Football Focus released its rankings of the 10 best running backs in the 2026 portal cycle. It ranked Cook at No. 5 with an 85.8 grade, sitting behind Adam Mohammed of California (85.9), Trequan Jones of Maryland (85.9), Cam Edwards of Michigan State (86.4) and Caleb Hawkins of Oklahoma State (92.6).

Highest Graded Transfer Running Backs This Offseason🔁 pic.twitter.com/YgRSreBhZm

— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 10, 2026

Cook is headed to a program that lost virtually all of its running back production to the portal in the 2025 offseason. Diore Hubbard (Wyoming), Jahiem White (North Texas), Cyncir Bowers (Connecticut), Tye Edwards, Clay Ash and Tyler Jacklich (San Jose State) all departed from the Mountaineers.

Interestingly, Cook will have an opportunity to square off against one of his old teams in 2026. The Mountaineers will travel to TCU on Oct. 24 for their eighth game of the season.

Jax State's Cam Cook tries to evade the tackle of Kennesaw State's Alexander Ford during the C-USA Championship | Dave Hyatt / Hyatt Media LLC / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images