Leshon Williams

Senior running back for Kansas. 2025: 565 rushing yards, 7 rushing TD, 5 catches.

RB · Kansas · Sr. · #4

5′10″ · 215 lb · Chicago, IL

CFB Index 58 · #90 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceReturning to Kansas for 2026

The numbers

565

rushing yards · 2025

7 TD · 5.8 per carry · 5 catches

Backed by 12 car · 58 yds · 3 TD -- top 1% rushing TDs game.

The play that turned itSwung Kansas from 48% to 82% to win.Kansas at UCF · 27-20

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Kansas. 2025: 565 rushing yards, 7 rushing TD, 5 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to H L Richards in 2020.
Transferred from Iowa to Kansas in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Does a little of everything without one standout trait.

TD rate: 84th percentile.

The full scouting read

Leshon Williams

RB · Kansas · Sr · #4

Does a little of everything without one standout trait. Leshon Williams has played for two head coaches across five seasons and two programs. The receipt: 129 rush yds, 39 rec yds against West Virginia — Week 4, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

2022Iowa8-5HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Iowa8-5HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2025Kansas5-7HC: Lance Leipold · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

58Quality starter #90 of 326?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (84th percentile). Strength: yards / carry (81st percentile). Concern: receptions (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#74 / 456 · 84th pct

5.3%

Yards / carry#86 / 456 · 81st pct

5.9

Explosive rate#124 / 456 · 73rd pct

8.5%

EPA / carry#147 / 456 · 68th pct

0.18

Success rate#204 / 456 · 55th pct

44.7%

Box-score rates (7)

Yards / carry#60 / 349 · 82nd pct

5.8

Rush TDs#62 / 349 · 80th pct

Long run#91 / 349 · 74th pct

Rush yards#131 / 349 · 63rd pct

565

Carries#173 / 349 · 50th pct

Rec yards#198 / 338 · 42nd pct

Receptions#269 / 338 · 18th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	72.7	6.3	0.5
Road5g	25.8	4.0	0.8

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	52.3	4.8	0.8
Weeks 8+5g	50.2	5.7	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lance Leipold

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

58 · #90 of 326 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #90 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #12 of 35 Big 12 RBs

How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Kansas	97	565	5.8	7	--
2024	Iowa	11	21	1.9	0	--
2023	Iowa	170	821	4.8	1	--
2022	Iowa	117	413	3.5	2	--
2021	Iowa	21	69	3.3	0	--
Career		416	1,889	4.5	10	--

Season	Team
2025	Kansas	5	73	14.6	2	--
2024	Iowa	4	26	6.5	0	--
2023	Iowa	12	68	5.7	1	--
2022	Iowa	11	78	7.1	0	--
2021	Iowa	--	--	--	--	--
Career		32	245	7.7	3	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 4 · West Virginia · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +4.95Leshon Williams 62 Yd Run (Laith Marjan Kick)
Week 4 · West Virginia · 4&1 · Q3 · EPA -4.15Leshon Williams run for no gain to the WVU 5
Week 1 · Fresno State · 4&1 · Q1 · EPA +3.31Leshon Williams run for 19 yds for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
Week 4 · West Virginia · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.14Jalon Daniels pass complete to Leshon Williams for 39 yds for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
Week 10 · Oklahoma State · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA +3.00(14:59) #4 L.Williams rush right for 32 yards gain to the OSU03 (#13 E.Fletcher), 1ST DOWN
Week 7 · Texas Tech · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Jalon Daniels pass complete to Leshon Williams for 10 yds for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
Week 10 · Oklahoma State · 2&5 · Q4 · EPA +2.44(06:10) Shotgun #4 L.Williams rush middle for 5 yards gain to the OSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:04 #99 L.Marjan kick attempt good (H: #37 G.Addison, LS: #51 E.Duggar)
Week 13 · Iowa State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.15(02:16) Shotgun #4 L.Williams rush middle for 24 yards gain to the KAN49 (#29 D.Surges), 1ST DOWN
Week 5 · Cincinnati · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.96Leshon Williams run for 25 yds to the CIN 38 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · UCF · 2&1 · Q2 · EPA +1.90Leshon Williams run for 1 yd for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 31-7vs Fresno State	6	57	9.5	1	21
Wk 2	L 31-42@ Missouri	3	0	0.0	0	3
Wk 4	W 41-10vs West Virginia	19	129	6.8	1	62	Season-high 129 yds
Wk 5	L 34-37vs Cincinnati	10	64	6.4	0	25
Wk 6	W 27-20@ UCF	12	58	4.8	3	13	3 rushing TDs
Wk 7	L 17-42@ Texas Tech	5	6	1.2	0	3
Wk 9	L 17-42vs Kansas State	2	5	2.5	0	4
Wk 10	W 38-21vs Oklahoma State	14	77	5.5	1	32
Wk 11	L 20-24@ Arizona	7	23	3.3	0	11
Wk 13	L 14-38@ Iowa State	4	42	10.5	1	24
Wk 14	L 21-31vs Utah	15	104	6.9	0	33
Total		97	565	5.2	7	62

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

9/27Inside-5 share

9 of the team's 27 inside-the-5 carries (33.3%).

2026 Outlook

Kansas

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · Kansas

Returning around him

18% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
2 Kansas players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +5 net (31 in / 26 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Kansas · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #62 · 2026 recruiting class #61

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Back

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Daniel Hishaw Jr.’s 2023 season.

Daniel Hishaw Jr.

75%match

Kansas · 2023

Jadarian Price

Notre Dame · 2025

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 32

71%

Jordan Waters

Duke · 2023

All-ACC

71%

Terion Stewart

Bowling Green · 2023

All-MAC

71%

Treyson Potts

Minnesota · 2021

70%

Matches Daniel on

Weight

Yards / carry

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Marcus Carroll's graduate season at Missouri (2024).

Marcus Carroll

58%match

Missouri · 2024

All-Sun Belt

Jordan Waters

NC State · 2024

All-ACC

58%

Harrison Waylee

Wyoming · 2024

All-MAC

58%

Matthew Sluka

James Madison · 2025

57%

Justice Ellison

Indiana · 2024

All-ACC

55%

Matches Marcus on

Yards / carry

Weight

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Differs from Marcus on

Yards / reception (higher)

Recruiting rating (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Leshon Williams

Cam Porter

Northwestern · 2022

90%

Kay'Ron Adams

Michigan State · 2024

84%

Arnold Barnes

Tulane · 2025

81%

Darrion Dupree

Wisconsin · 2025

81%

Parker Jenkins

East Carolina · 2025

77%

Heisman trajectory

Heisman Trajectory · 2025

Peak #214

Final rank

#237

Avg #231.0

Finalist prob 0%

Peaked at #214 this season.

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

2020

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Back

Players who play like Leshon Williams

Heisman trajectory

Peak #214