Michigan State has another transfer running back drawing national attention, and this time it’s Cam Edwards.
The fifth-year senior from Connecticut was named Tuesday to the preseason watch list for the 2026 Doak Walker Award, which goes to the top running back in college football. Edwards is one of 60 players on the list.
For the Spartans, the fit is obvious. Edwards is expected to be the starter in the backfield next to quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, and he arrives with a resume that already looks the part.
Over the past four years at UConn, he piled up more than 2,000 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in the last two seasons alone. He also earned a spot on the Maxwell Award watch list earlier this month.
At 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds, Edwards was Connecticut’s leading rusher for the past three seasons. Last fall, he produced 1,240 rushing yards and 15 scores on the ground while adding 187 receiving yards. He also shared a locker room at UConn with new Michigan State offensive lineman Ben Murawski, who is projected to start at left tackle after transferring in during the winter.
The Doak Walker buzz around Edwards inevitably brings back a familiar memory for Michigan State. Kenneth Walker III won the award in 2021, when he ran for 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns and powered the Spartans to an 11-2 season and a Peach Bowl victory. That team remains the last time MSU posted a winning season.
Edwards is chasing big goals of his own. After Monday’s practice, he said he wants to win a national championship, a Big Ten championship and be "the best running back in the country."
First-year Michigan State coach Pat Fitzgerald isn’t backing off that ambition.
"I expect him to be the best running back in the country. That's his goals and we expect to push him to be that," Fitzgerald said Monday.
"He has shown just unbelievable ability here in camp. There was a play the other day where he ran through it, (running backs coach) Devon Spalding and I made eye contact, and I go 'I'm good.
I don't need to see him until the opener.' Put him in bubble wrap, you know.
We're good.
"He's just got a great personality. I've coached some great backs.
I'll be very interested to see how these initial 12 chapters get written this fall by him, because he's got every bit the talent to be the best that I've ever coached. Obviously, he's gotta write those chapters, though."
Edwards isn’t the only Spartan getting preseason recognition. Murawski is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy, which honors the nation’s best interior lineman, and linebacker Jordan Hall made the Butkus Award watch list for the top player at his position.
Michigan State opens its 2026 season on Sept. 4 at home against Toledo.
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