A 6'4, 230 Pound RB? The FCS' Version of Derrick Henry is Headed to WVU
The FCS to FBS pipeline has been a productive one for CFF players over the past two seasons, particularly at RB. Today's player is coming off a 1000-yard season, and is entering a nice landing spot.
When the pig grows too large for the pen, it teaches the farmer the weight of ambition.
- CFF Wiseman, proverb
Like many of you, I had to do a double take when I first saw the listed size of today’s player. It may be a bit of an understatement to say that former Northern Iowa runner Tye Edwards—also formerly of UTSA—is a big running back. He’s listed as 6’4 on ESPN, but a more modest 6’3 on 247 and ON3. His listed weight also fluctuates between 210 and 240 pounds depending on the source.
How big is too big to play RB? Well, as long as you have the corresponding athleticism, it turns out the answer is not 6’4 inches tall. Tye Edwards had a big year in the FCS during the 2024 campaign. He averaged an efficient 6.4 yards per carry on 159 attempts, amassing 1022 yards and six scores in a 12 game gauntlet that included: Nebraska, Hawaii, South Dakota State, South Dakota, North Dakota, North Dakota State, and Missouri State.
The Dakota teams listed ended up being the top four FCS teams in 2024. Nebraska is a P4 program, Hawaii a lower level FBS program, and Missouri State is one of two FCS programs being promoted to the FBS this upcoming season.
All that to say, this was no easy FCS schedule, and was probably comparable to your average G5 schedule difficulty in the FBS. Heck, even some P4s probably had it easier.
Coming back to today’s player, he had a good year. In addition to six scores on the ground, he added another one via the air in an overtime thriller vs. Youngstown State. He was the engine of the offence all season long as the leading receiver had no more than 543 yards, and the next leading rusher finished with 495 yards rushing on 97 carries. And if you thought the comparison to Derrick Henry was bush league, check out this clip and tell me he doesn’t look similar toting the rock.
Now, he finds himself at a program with a rich (pun intended) history of CFF production under the prodigal son, Rich Rodriguez, who returns as head coach after an extended hiatus. CFB historians should be well aware that the 2000s WVU teams under Rich Rod were the stuff of legend. So what does it all mean for 2025? Let’s take a look…
Coaching & System
RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 14.4 — OC: 111 (half ppr)
The first thing readers should know is that the last time Rich Rod was associated with WVU (head coach from 2001-2007), his Mountaineers produced six 1000-yard rushers in seven seasons.
One of those runners (Avon Cobourn) saw 335 carries in 13 games in 2002. Cobourn rushed for 1700 yards and 17 scores that season. That campaign was following Cobourn’s 1300 yard performance in 2001, where he saw 297 carries.
After Cobourn was Quincy Wilson, who toted the rock 282 times for 1380 yards and 12 scores in 2003. 2004 was the sole season where WVU failed to produce a 1000-yard tailback under R-Rod before Steve Slaton did it three times in a row from 2005-2007.
Slaton’s 1000 yard performances were very impressive, as he did it with QB Pat White also rushing for 1000 yards nearly every season (came up just short with 952 in 2005). Unlike the runners who came before him, Slaton’s carry totals were closer to 200.
R-Rod’s next longest coaching stint was at Arizona (2012-2017). With the Wildcats, his offence produced a 1000-yard rusher four times in seven seasons. In two of those seasons (2012-2013), Ka’Deem Carey carried the pig over 300 times, including a greasy 349 carry season that evoked a Spruce Knob in this CFF player’s pants.
Even during those disastrous years at Michigan (2008-2010), there was a 1700 yard rusher, albeit it was the QB.
Point being, don’t get lost in the sauce with the recent data included in the table below. R-Rod knows how to run the football and he’s been a recipient of my end-of-year stuffed pig deliveries more times than I can count.
We can see the average stats of the RB1 during the last five full seasons under Rodriguez in Table 1. In 2019, it was a three-headed monster at Ole Miss with freshman five star Jerrion Ealy leading the team in rushing with 722 yards on 104 carries. That was a disappointing year from a CFF standpoint.
2021 was even worse at ULM but things started trending back up at Jacksonville State. Starting in 2022, Rod’s RB1 averaged over 15 points per game in half ppr formats, though the input volume still wasn’t very notable. Ditto for 2023. In 2024, as many of you will recall, Rod’s RB1 Tre Stewart took command of the backfield.
One of the best waiver wire options of the 2024 campaign, Stewart rushed for over 1600 yards and 25(!) TDs. He almost hit 2000 total yards with his 233 receiving yards.
Chad Scott, the OC, was retained from the old staff after Rich Rod’s hiring. His time with WVU has been a forgettable one as far as the RB1 production is concerned. Though his lead back did see nearly a third of the team’s carry share in each of his three seasons calling plays.
So the star of the show here is undoubtedly the head coach. Rich Rod’s five year average in terms of tendencies is a 65/35 split in favour of run plays. AND, this mad bastard runs a fast offence, averaging about 22 seconds per play, or 71 plays per game (average teams run around 67/68 plays per game, slow teams in the upper 50s).
I don’t see the relevancy of diving much deeper into Scott’s history as Rich Rod is probably going to be the overriding influence on offence, and that is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
Tye Edwards (6’3, 240)
2024 STATS: 159 - 1022 - 6 (12 games)
My excitement over today’s player was tempered when I noticed that this modern day Adonis from Palatka, Florida actually started his Div. I football career at UTSA. In 2022, Edwards appeared in three games for the Roadrunners, finishing with a forgettable 14 carries for 44 yards.
Before that, he played football at Hutchinson C.C. (2020-2021), where he was a NJCAA First Team All-American selection who helped lead the Blue Dragons to the national title. In his second and final year at Hutchinson he recorded 713 rushing yards on 108 carries with eight touchdowns, including a Championship Game MVP performance with 139 rushing yards on 20 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
But wait, there’s more… Edwards’ first year out high school was spent at Georgia Military College, where he recorded 442 rushing yards on 74 carries with six touchdowns and added 79 receiving yards on six catches with one touchdown. If you can believe it, he still has eligibility left for 2025.
Suffice to say, Edwards is an experienced commodity at this point. The data point at UTSA is a particularly damning one in my mind as he failed to make a mark at all at the G5 level. Part of that could be injury (I don’t know if that was the case, but he played in two games in September, and one in November of that year).
Nonetheless, he enters a program that is seeking to replace a similarly built RB in the form of CJ Donaldson (6’2, 240) who defected to Ohio State in the transfer portal. Donaldson averaged around 13 PPG in full PPR formats in 2024, scoring 12 times in 13 games. He never eclipsed 1000 yards at WVU but he did carve a nice role out for himself as a TD maker.
At a minimum, Edwards should be able to find a similar role for himself as Jaheim White’s wingman. I see this backfield leaning on both runners, and I don’t think we’ll see a 250+ carry player this upcoming season.
The Mountaineers also brought in former A&M Aggie Jaylen Henderson at QB, who demonstrated an ability to rush the football in 2023 during his limited starts.
Without having the benefit of spring camp buzz to assess this player, my guess would be that Edwards will find a place in CFF drafters’ rotations as a late round dart throw in 30-round bestball leagues, and at the very end of select re-draft formats. Given the Pavia ruling regarding JuCo years and eligibility, it’s not clear to me how many years Edwards has left, but my guess would be that he is a one and done player in 2025. ◾
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Sample 2018-2024, excluding 2020.