Dylan Edwards is giving Kansas football something it hasn’t really had before.
That’s the read from Lance Leipold, who sees the former Kansas State and Colorado running back as more than just another addition to the Jayhawks’ backfield. Edwards is expected to be a weapon in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense both on the ground and in the passing game, and Leipold made it clear at Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas, that KU is planning to lean into that versatility.
" Dylan Edwards is going to help our football program," Leipold said. "It's exciting to watch what he's done, how he's handled it and how he's meshed in with our team.
[I'm] excited for him to take the field for us, and give us a dimension that we haven't had. I know Andy Kotelnicki, as our play caller, is very excited to find different ways to utilize his talents."
Edwards arrives in Lawrence after stops at Colorado and Kansas State, giving him his third college program. He flashed right away as a true freshman in Boulder, piling up more than 600 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns. His role grew in Manhattan, where he rushed for 546 yards and five touchdowns on 74 carries before the 2025 season.
After leg injuries cut short his second and final year with the Wildcats, Edwards looked for a fresh start with Leipold and Kotelnicki. That pairing matters.
Their offense is built to move pieces around, create mismatches and make life difficult for defenses before the snap. Edwards fits that kind of system.
At 5-foot-9, he’s expected to be one of KU’s top running backs, and with the quarterback job still unsettled, the Jayhawks can probably count on Edwards and Syracuse transfer Yasin Willis to carry much of the load early on.
But his value doesn’t stop there. Edwards has also shown he can be a factor as a receiver, and that gives KU another layer to work with no matter whether Cole Ballard or Isaiah Marshall is throwing the ball. Over his college career, Edwards has 449 receiving yards and six touchdowns, most of that production coming at Colorado.
Cam Pickett, one of KU’s top receivers and one of the Jayhawks’ representatives at Big 12 Media Days, said Edwards has already shown that kind of flexibility in practice.
"He can line up anywhere on the field and make an impact," Pickett said. "He makes the game a lot easier for our offense when you know you have a playmaker out there at all times.
I feel like me and him will compliment well off each other.. I feel like he'll complement a lot of things that we do at receiver very well, too."
There’s also the obvious subplot: Edwards is one of the rare high-profile players to move from one in-state rival to the other. Inside the program, though, that doesn’t seem to be a major issue. Leipold said the staff focused on Edwards as a player and a fit, not where he came from, and defensive lineman Blake Herold said the locker room hasn’t made much of it either.
"We haven't talked about where he came from at all, because that doesn't really matter," Herold said. "But now it's been fun to see him grow and see him adapt to our way of doing things on the right side of Kansas. That's been fun for sure."
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It also comes at a time when Kansas is trying to keep its recruiting pipeline moving, with the staff already working the Class of 2027 and tracking names such as Javon Bardwell and Demarcus Henry. Add in the Big 12 and Kansas leaning into new corporate sponsorships tied to NIL support, and the program is clearly trying to build for what comes next. Petersons comments just make the familiar question feel fresh again: how does Kansas balance star power, development and the way its best players want to be used? [Read more 🡒]