Kansas State’s running back room heading into 2026 doesn’t look like a one-man operation. It looks like a unit built to give Collin Klein options every time the Wildcats line up.
Joe Jackson is back as the clear starter after emerging last season as one of the Big 12’s top backs, but the room around him has changed dramatically. Rodney Fields Jr. came over from Oklahoma State, and Jay Harris arrived from Oregon. The result is a trio with distinct jobs, not a crowded depth chart full of duplicates.
Jackson doesn’t see it as a battle for carries.
"I never look at it in that way," Jackson said during Big 12 Media Days. "I just look at it as us getting better each and every single week.
Us, how we're able to complement each other. However, we complement the team - whatever we have to do to allow the team to win - that's what we're going to do."
That kind of mindset fits the way Jackson played last season. Once he took over the starting job in the middle of the year, he became one of the league’s most dangerous runners, using patience, vision and burst to turn ordinary snaps into big gains. His performance at Utah stood out as the best example, with Jackson repeatedly finding openings behind the offensive line and turning them into explosive plays.
He said that kind of production starts well before game day.
"I feel like a lot of that comes from all before the game," Jackson said. "It's a lot of preparation that goes into that.
It's a lot of hard work that goes into that for me to be able to go in and just take over and dominate. I feel like that's what separates."
Now he’s also the veteran voice in a room that added two experienced transfers this offseason.
Fields brings a versatile game after his season at Oklahoma State. He showed plenty as a runner, but his passing-game value stood out too, with 28 receptions - the third-most among Power Four freshman running backs and the third-highest total on the Cowboys’ roster. He averaged nearly 99 all-purpose yards per game, giving Kansas State a back who can make plays in space and hold up in pass protection.
Harris offers something different. The 224-pound senior started at Northwest Missouri State, where he earned Division II First Team All-America honors after averaging 130.3 rushing yards per game and leading the MIAA in all-purpose yards.
He then transferred to Oregon last season and appeared in the Ducks’ College Football Playoff semifinal against Indiana at the Peach Bowl. In Manhattan, his size and physical style could matter in short-yardage situations, and he also gives the Wildcats a strong lead blocker in heavier sets.
Jackson likes what that mix brings.
"That's the good thing about our running back room," Jackson said. "We have a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things that all contribute to the team being better each and every single Saturday."
He’s seeing that variety up close every day.
"Both of them guys bring in a lot of juice," he said. "They bring in a lot of stuff that they do that varies from each other. Those things can help us out tremendously in the near future."
That gives Klein flexibility. Jackson can handle the bulk of the workload.
Fields can be a receiving threat and a steady pass protector. Harris can bring power in short-yardage situations and help as a blocker.
Kansas State doesn’t need one back to do everything.
The chemistry has carried off the field, too. Jackson said he helped Fields and Harris adjust after they got to Manhattan, even showing them around town before they found a few favorite spots of their own.
"We went to Wine Dive before," Jackson said. "I showed them a couple of spots.
They liked a couple of spots. They found a couple of spots on their own, too.
They took me too. I just feel like it's all working together and feeding off each other.
It's never about one person."
That may be the best snapshot of this group: Jackson leading, Fields and Harris adding their own pieces, and Kansas State leaning into a backfield built on variety instead of repetition.
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