DJ Giddens | RB | Kansas State | 2025 Draft Eligible
In a draft class full of elite running back talent, DJ Giddens tends to get overlooked. But this young man deserves some attention, coming off a productive redshirt sophomore season for the Wildcats. Let’s take a look at Giddens’ resume to determine whether or not he could become a legitimate Dynasty asset for our teams down the road.
High School
You’d be hard-pressed to find recruiting information on DJ coming out of Junction City High School. Giddens has been quoted as saying Kansas State was really the only D1 program pursuing him, and he appreciates their trust in him. As a senior, he ran for 1,255 yards and 30 touchdowns, earning all-state honors in Kansas. But he was a late bloomer, posting less than 700 yards and just four touchdowns in his high school career prior to his senior year.
From what I’ve seen, Giddens was a 2-star recruit on Rivals and unranked on the other recruiting platforms. So, his path to leading this Wildcat backfield was surely a surprise to many.
Kansas State
As a redshirt freshman in 2022, Giddens played behind Deuce Vaughn, current Dallas Cowboys running back. He finished with just 89 rush attempts but was pretty efficient with those touches. Giddens’ stat line included 5.8 yards per attempt and 3.88 yards after contact per attempt, tacking on eight receptions for 98 yards as well.
With Vaughn moving to the NFL ranks, Giddens stepped into a workhorse role this past season and excelled, posting 1,226 rush yards and 10 touchdowns on 223 attempts for an average of 5.5 YPA. He has a prominent role as a pass catcher, adding 30 receptions for 326 yards and three touchdowns. His target rate of 15.9% is very good for the running back position and something to get excited about from a PPR perspective.
Strengths
One of Giddens’ biggest strengths is his pass-blocking ability. His reliability as a pass protector will give him the opportunity to see the field on passing downs at the next level. Giddens is a pure rusher, displaying impressive patience, vision, and one-cut ability. Listed at 6’1″ and 212 lbs, Giddens has the size for a 3-down role but could benefit from adding a few more pounds of lean mass. He knows how to keep his pad level low and fall forward for extra yardage. And, as we mentioned before, he’s a quality receiver coming out of the backfield.
Weaknesses
Analytically, Giddens is a solid prospect, but he’s not elite in any one category. Nothing about his efficiency numbers makes him stand out amongst this loaded 2025 RB class. Because of this, he may be best suited to stay in college for two more seasons and continue to develop, with the hopes that the 2026 class will be weaker.
Giddens lacks exceptional quickness or breakaway speed. He’s not going to burn many NFL DBs in the second and third levels. He can put up fantasy points, especially in PPR formats, but he lacks that “homerun ball” ability.
Dynasty/Devy Value
As of this offseason, Giddens is a nice late-round flyer in your Devy startups and supplemental drafts, but nothing more. He’ll be much more valuable in your C2C leagues, where we can have confidence in his college role. I wouldn’t consider him one of the Top 10 RBs in this 2025 draft class, but that could change with a big 2024 season. He’s certainly a prospect to keep an eye on this fall. While he has a long road to becoming a future Dynasty asset, he’s a name that’s virtually free in Devy leagues and may be worth a dart throw, depending on how deep your rosters are.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
