Kaelon Black

Former running back at Indiana. 2025: 1,039 rushing yards, 10 rushing TD, 4 catches.

RB · Indiana · Sr. · #8

5′10″ · 210 lb · Virginia Beach, VA

CFB Index 68 · #43 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceDrafted by San Francisco — Rd 3, Pick 26, #90 overall

The numbers

1,039

rushing yards · 2025

10 TD · 5.6 per carry · 4 catches

Best game: 63 rush yds, 2 TD, vs Oregon

The play that turned itSwung Virginia from 17% to 47% to win.James Madison at Virginia · 36-35

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former running back at Indiana. 2025: 1,039 rushing yards, 10 rushing TD, 4 catches.

Transferred from James Madison to Indiana in 2024.
Drafted round 3 by the San Francisco in 2026.

The full story, with sources

How he plays

Hits the crease and outruns the angle.

Yards / carry: 64th percentile.

The full scouting read

How it ended

Four seasons at Indiana, 2,260 rushing yards — drafted at #90 overall by San Francisco.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

202411 games

Entered the portal

2026

Drafted by San Franciscoround 3, pick 90

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2022–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #90

San Francisco · 2026

Coaching lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches

2022–2023

Tom Allen

Indiana

2024–2025

Curt Cignetti

Indiana

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Tom Allen → Curt Cignetti. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

San Francisco2026 NFL rookie season

#90Rd 3 · Pick 26

San Francisco2026 NFL rookie season

View college career stats ↓

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022James Madison8-3HC: Curt Cignetti · Run-leaning

2023James Madison11-2HC: Damian Wroblewski · Balanced

2024Indiana11-2HC: Curt Cignetti · Run-leaning

2025Indiana16-0HC: Curt Cignetti · Run-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

68Quality starter #43 of 326?

High confidenceAscending13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rush yards (91st percentile). Strength: carries (91st percentile). Concern: receptions (12th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / carry#166 / 456 · 64th pct

5.3

Explosive rate#185 / 456 · 59th pct

7.1%

EPA / carry#190 / 456 · 58th pct

0.14

Success rate#192 / 456 · 58th pct

45.3%

TD rate#228 / 456 · 50th pct

2.7%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#32 / 349 · 91st pct

1039

Carries#33 / 349 · 91st pct

187

Rush TDs#33 / 349 · 89th pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 201 · 87th pct

Yards / carry#82 / 349 · 74th pct

5.6

Long run#204 / 349 · 41st pct

Rec yards#268 / 338 · 20th pct

Receptions#289 / 338 · 12th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

57th → 58th percentile

Success rate

92nd → 58th percentile

Explosive rate

48th → 59th percentile

Yards / carry

61st → 64th percentile

TD rate

45th → 50th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

182 carries

16%

Stuffed (≤0)

35%

Grind (1–3)

36%

Chunk (4–9)

13%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 16 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home10g	69.3	6.2	0.6
Road6g	57.7	4.6	0.7

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-79g	68.4	6.0	0.6
Weeks 8+7g	60.4	5.1	0.7

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Curt Cignetti

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

68 · #43 of 326 RBs

Unranked recruit. Now #43 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Indiana	187	1,039	5.6	10	--
2024	Indiana	46	251	5.5	2	--
2023	James Madison	142	637	4.5	1	--
2022	James Madison	69	333	4.8	3	--
Career		444	2,260	5.1	16	--

Season	Team
2025	Indiana	4	36	9.0	0	--
2024	Indiana	4	6	1.5	0	--
2023	James Madison	25	238	9.5	4	--
2022	James Madison	17	177	10.4	2	--
Career		50	457	9.1	6	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 15 · 2025

W 13–10

at Ohio State

69 rush yds (16 car)

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With F. Mendoza — 222 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 90.2 · -3 rush yds (5 car) · C. Becker — 6 rec · 126 yds

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 4 · Illinois · 3&2 · Q3 · EPA +3.96Kaelon Black run for 40 yds for a TD (Nico Radicic KICK)
Week 9 · UCLA · 4&1 · Q3 · EPA +3.50(11:00) Shotgun #8 K.Black rush middle for 28 yards gain to the UCL27 (#4 K.Lawrence; #32 I.Chisom), 1ST DOWN
Week 5 · Iowa · 4&1 · Q2 · EPA -3.28Kaelon Black run for a loss of 1 yard to the IOWA 27
Week 1 · Oregon · 3&4 · Q4 · EPA +3.14Kaelon Black 23 Yd Run (Nico Radicic Kick)
Week 1 · Alabama · 2&8 · Q4 · EPA +3.00(14:27) Shotgun #8 K.Black rush right for 25 yards gain to the ALA00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:21, 1ST DOWN #15 N.Radicic kick attempt good (H: #44 M.McCarthy, LS: #47 M.Langston)
Week 8 · Michigan State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.79Kaelon Black run for 29 yds for a TD (Nico Radicic KICK)
Week 10 · Maryland · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.60(07:39) Shotgun #8 K.Black rush left for 20 yards gain to the IND47 (#3 T.Reddick), 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Purdue · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.57(03:43) Shotgun #8 K.Black rush middle for 16 yards gain to the PUR00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 03:40, 1ST DOWN #15 N.Radicic kick attempt good (H: #44 M.McCarthy, LS: #47 M.Langston)
Week 1 · Old Dominion · 3&2 · Q3 · EPA +2.54Kaelon Black run for 2 yds for a TD (Nico Radicic KICK)
Week 10 · Maryland · 2&2 · Q3 · EPA +2.52(09:59) Shotgun #8 K.Black rush left for 31 yards gain to the UMD00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 09:43, 1ST DOWN #15 N.Radicic kick attempt good (H: #44 M.McCarthy, LS: #47 M.Langston)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 16 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 27-14vs Old Dominion	17	92	5.4	1	36
Wk 2	W 56-9vs Kennesaw State	10	57	5.7	0	29
Wk 3	W 73-0vs Indiana State	7	68	9.7	0	29
Wk 4	W 63-10vs Illinois	10	89	8.9	1	40
Wk 5	W 20-15@ Iowa	11	38	3.5	0	10
Wk 7	W 30-20@ Oregon	7	31	4.4	0	14
Wk 8	W 38-13vs Michigan State	10	64	6.4	1	29
Wk 9	W 56-6vs UCLA	10	70	7.0	0	28
Wk 10	W 55-10@ Maryland	14	110	7.9	1	31	Season-high 110 yds
Wk 11	W 27-24@ Penn State	12	32	2.7	1	10
Wk 12	W 31-7vs Wisconsin	6	12	2.0	0	5
Wk 14	W 56-3@ Purdue	13	66	5.1	2	16
Wk 15	W 13-10@ Ohio State	16	69	4.3	0	37
Bowl	W 38-3vs Alabama	15	99	6.6	1	25
Bowl	W 56-22vs Oregon	12	63	5.3	2	23
Bowl	W 27-21vs Miami	17	79	4.6	0	20
Total		187	1039	5.6	10	40

How he plays

Play style

Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

182Carries

965Yards

17.7%Top-5 share

15.9%Stuffed rate

Just 17.7% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 15.9% of his carries. 6 carries for 12 yds vs Wisconsin; 17 for 92 vs Old Dominion.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

Not actually a closer

checked · no story

29.5%Carry share

17.7%Q4-lead share

67.7%In competitive games

29.5% of carries overall (185/628) → 17.7% of Q4-with-lead carries (31/175) — 67.7% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

14/173rd/4th & short

15/39Inside-5 share