DJ Giddens, Kansas State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Giddens was a two-star recruit from Junction City High School in Junction City, Kan. in the class of 2021
Kansas State star DJ Giddens gets lost in the shuffle of a deep running back class, but his combination of power, vision, and surprising elusiveness helps him gash defenses for chunk plays. Giddens projects as a Day 3 rotational contributor in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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DJ Giddens, RB Kansas State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile
Classification: Redshirt junior running back from Junction City, Kan.
Background: Giddens was a two-star recruit from Junction City High School in Junction City, Kan. in the class of 2021. He was an unranked two-star recruit for Rivals. Giddens didn’t receive a star rating or grade out of 100 from 247Sports, On3, or ESPN. He only began playing football as a high school sophomore. Giddens finished his high school career with 1,912 rushing yards and 34 rushing touchdowns. As a senior, he rushed for 1,255 yards and 30 touchdowns, earning First Team All-State honors from the Topeka Capital-Journal. He was an All-State honorable mention for the Wichita Eagle. Giddens was born on Aug. 26, 2003.
Injuries & Off-Field: Injured for a significant portion of his high school junior season, missed some time in the spring of 2023 with an injury, missed the end of the 2024 Iowa State game with an injury
Awards: 2022 Honorable Mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, 2023 Honorable Mention All-Big 12, 2024 Second Team All-Big 12
Pros: Vision to find small gaps and cutback lanes, patiently waits for gap to develop, gets north-south quickly, naturally finds and runs to open space, patient and precise footwork, sets up blockers well, contact balance, churns legs through contact, finishes plays falling forward, fights for extra yards instead of running out of bounds, drags DBs downfield, nice shoulder and head shake, sudden sidestep, spin move, enough lateral explosiveness to make defenders miss with a jump cut in the hole, surprising wiggle and ability to shake defenders for his build, makes the safety miss one-on-one, stutter steps and throws fakes at full speed, squares up and delivers impactful blows in pass pro
Cons: Limited to no special teams experience, three total fumbles in 2024, some stiffness in hips, limited dynamic and twitchy creativity, limited juice to produce big plays, caught from behind, lacks home run speed, lacks speed to win the corner on outside runs, Combine explosiveness doesn’t show up on tape, burst doesn’t erase pursuit angles consistently, struggles to generate anything when hit in the backfield, unable to create space for himself in a crowd, runs with upright pad level, hard hands leading to drops, limited route tree, poor job sustaining blocks in pass pro
Overview: Giddens is a patient runner with impressive vision. He presses close to the line and waits for the gap to develop but showcases good urgency when it’s time to get downhill. Giddens locates narrow gaps and cutback lanes, darting into them to avoid sitting behind the line for too long. He’s a natural at finding running lanes and navigating his way to open space. Giddens sets his blockers up well with his patience and precise footwork that allows for controlled and sharp adjustments. He isn’t an elite power back but displays quality contact balance. The redshirt junior churns his legs through contact to break free from some tackles and finish plays falling forward. He's a blue-collar runner who battles for extra yardage and drags smaller defenders downfield. Giddens needs to protect the ball better. PFF charted him with three fumbles in 2024 (two on carries and one in the passing game). He enters the NFL with no real special teams experience, which limits his pathway to the field early in his career. Giddens suffers from some stiffness in his hips, which makes his elusiveness and wiggle that much more impressive. He uses effective shoulder and head shakes to freeze defenders before knifing past them. The Kansas native deploys sudden sidesteps, spins, and jump cuts to make defenders miss in tight quarters. He breaks down and shakes defenders in space with stutter steps and fakes while still moving at close to full speed. This makes him a nightmare for safeties who are stepping downhill. Giddens deals with some physical limitations that put a ceiling on his projected draft positioning. He isn’t an elite athlete, although his Combine testing numbers might lead you to believe otherwise. Hip stiffness limits his dynamic athleticism and twitch. This makes it hard for him to quickly escape a muddy box or to be creative when contacted in the backfield. Giddens lacks the burst and top speed to finish long touchdown runs and consistently stress linebacker or safety pursuit angles. He can’t turn the corner when he bounces runs outside. Giddens runs with an upright pad level that exposes the ball and invites significant contact. His value in the passing game is disappointing. After a fairly clean 2023 season, he dropped five passes in 2024. He’s not a natural route runner or tracker of the football, and his hard hands cause problems at the catch point. Giddens lands big hits in pass protection when he identifies and squares up to the defender, but he fails to sustain blocks.
Overall, Giddens is a patient runner with rare elusiveness and wiggle for a prospect with his frame. He’s a nightmare to tackle one-on-one in space but lacks the elite athletic traits and third down value to be a workhorse in the NFL. Giddens should compete for a team’s RB2 reps early in his career.
Role & Scheme Fit: Rotational running back in an inside zone or gap scheme
Round Projection: Fifth Round
Size: 6'0 1/4", 212 lbs. (NFL Combine)
Submitted: 12-24-24
Updated: 03-26-25