In which BracketCat counts down the 31st day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State running back DJ Giddens.

#31 DJ Giddens

Redshirt Junior | 6-1 | 212 lbs. | Junction City, Kansas

Position: Running Back
Previous College: None
Projection: Starter
Status: On Scholarship

DJ “Turnt” Giddens (b. Aug. 26, 2003) is a former walk-on running back from Junction City High School who is majoring in business administration and comes off an impressive year.

Giddens enters his junior season already ranked third in K-State history in rushing yards per carry (5.59) and 10th in rushing yards per game (64.6), and he only needs 256 rushing yards to become just the 12th player in school history with 2,000 rushing yards in a career.

So it’s no surprise he was named the other day to the 2024 Maxwell Award watch list.

Giddens is also just 466 rushing yards, 179 rushing attempts, nine rushing touchdowns and two 100-yard rushing games shy of entering the school’s career top 10 in each category.

He was the third-fastest player in school history to 1,000 career rushing yards (168 carries).

Giddens, who redshirted and did not play in 2021, saw action in every game during the 2022 Big 12 Championship season as Deuce Vaughn ’s primary backup, ranking third on the team in rushing with 518 yards and six touchdowns on just 89 carries as he earned votes from the league’s coaches for the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year award.

He ranked third in school history in rushing yards by a freshman and also caught eight passes for 98 yards on the season.

Giddens totaled a season-best 78 rushing yards at West Virginia, topping his mark of 58 yards on a season-best 13 carries he had set the previous week at Baylor. His game against the Mountaineers included a season-long rush of 49 yards, which went for a touchdown.

Giddens had a three-game streak with a rushing touchdown against West Virginia, Baylor and Kansas. He also scored in the first two games of the season against South Dakota and Missouri, as well as against Oklahoma State.

Giddens had 67 yards in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, a game in which he had season highs in catches (three), receiving yards (48) and longest reception (36). He entered 2023 in a “thunder and lightning” combo with Treshaun Ward but ended up bringing them both.

In 2023, Giddens started all 13 games, rushing for 1,226 yards and 10 touchdowns on 223 carries, while he totaled 323 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 29 receptions as he was named an All-Big 12 honorable mention pick by the league’s coaches.

He ranked 18th nationally in total rushing yards and 27th in all-purpose yards per game (119.15); finished fifth in the Big 12 in total rushing yards, all-purpose yards per game and scoring (six points per game); and tied for sixth in rushing touchdowns, and was seventh in rushing yards per game (94.31) and yards per rush (5.50).

Giddens had six 100-yard rushing games to tie for fourth in the Big 12 and eighth in school history. He finished 10th in K-State history in single-season rushing yards as he produced only the 19th 1,000-yard rushing season in school history.

Giddens also ranked third in rushing yards by a sophomore behind the great Darren Sproles (1,465 yards in 2002) and Vaughn (1,404 yards in 2021), ending his superlative season with four straight games of 100 rushing yards to tie for sixth in K-State history.

His four-game streak is the longest by a Wildcat since Vaughn had an eight-game streak spanning 2021 and 2022.

Giddens eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark during the Iowa State snow game on his 175th carry of the season, tying for the third-fastest player in school history to 1,000 rushing yards in terms of carries.

He finished eighth in K-State history with 5.5 rushing yards per carry on the season, while he ranked fourth in school history among sophomores with 78 points scored.

Also a threat in the air, Giddens led all Big 12 Conference running backs in receiving touchdowns and yards per reception (11.1), while he ranked second in receiving yards and catches. His 11.1-yard receiving average was fourth among all running backs in the nation.

The deceptively shifty Giddens forced 69 missed tackles on the year to rank seventh nationally among Power 5 running backs, according to Pro Football Focus.

Now, this is the part where University of Central Florida fans should avert their eyes…

He set career highs in rushing yards (207), carries (30), rushing touchdowns (4), receptions (8) and receiving yards (86) in his virtuoso performance against UCF en route to Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.

It was the first 200-yard, four-touchdown rushing game in school history, while it was the 22nd occurrence in Big 12 Conference history but just the second since 2015.

It also was one of only six games in the nation during the 2023 season with 200 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Giddens’ 207 rushing yards against the Knights were the most in school history by a sophomore and were the fifth most by any player in the Big 12 during the 2023 season.

His four rushing touchdowns against UCF also tied for fourth in school history, and his 293 yards from scrimmage against the Knights were the third most in school history, the fourth most nationally in a game in 2023 and the most in the Big 12.

They also were the most all-purpose yards in a single game by a Big 12 player in 2023.

Giddens’ 38 total touches against UCF were the most by a Wildcat since Darren Sproles had 40 against Louisiana in 2004, while they were tied for the fourth most in the nation during the season and tied for the most by a Big 12 player last year.

He had 151 rushing yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, in addition to a 37-yard touchdown reception, to help K-State to earn a win over NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Giddens’ 28 carries tied K-State’s bowl record, while his 151 rushing yards and 188 all-purpose yards each ranked fourth.

He had a 61-yard touchdown reception against TCU, the longest catch of his career.

Giddens prepped under head coach Randall Zimmerman at Junction City, where he rushed for 1,912 yards and 34 touchdowns during his career, including 1,255 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior.

His rushing yardage in 2020 ranked as the fifth most in school history for a single season.

Giddens earned first-team all-state honors as a senior from The Topeka Capital-Journal, while he was an honorable mention pick by The Wichita Eagle.

He ranked among the program’s top 10 in career rushing touchdowns (34; tied for second), total touchdowns (34; fourth), carries (266; fifth) and rushing yards (1,912; seventh).

Giddens scored five touchdowns in a game against Wichita East and he was only the third player in school history to reach that mark.

He also ran for 216 yards in the Kansas Class 6A state championship game.

Here’s what Chris Klieman prophesied for Giddens’ potential in 2023 at Big 12 Media Days:

I think DJ Giddens will also really be a surprise. He’ll have a phenomenal year because of what he’s done with his body and to transform himself. He’s become more of a student of the game. That’s what I’m more impressed with. He’s always been a natural football player, but he’s learned more about the game. I think he learned that from Deuce, and Deuce taught him, “Here are the things you need to learn and know.” He missed the spring recovering from a surgery, and he’s healthy now and watching him run around he’s probably in the best shape of his life and he’s a load back there. He just needs reps behind that offensive line.

What does Klieman envision for a Giddens encore in 2024. As he told media in Las Vegas:

It will probably be similar in the fact that DJ can carry it 30 times, and he did that a few times for us last year. He can carry it 20 times. DJ is an every-down back and underrated in our league. DJ is just a phenomenal football player that’s a great kid, great pass protection, great out of the backfield catch the ball. He’s going to have a dynamite year for us. We’ve surrounded him now with some more talent that we don’t have to rely on him that much. There are some games we are. We’re going to give it to him, and he’ll be ready for it. There’s other games where we’ve got to spread it around more. We’ve got to throw the ball a little more so that the offensive or the running game does open up.