Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
9/27Inside-5 share
9 of the team's 27 inside-the-5 carries (33.3%).
Leshon Williams
Leshon Williams is a running back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Kansas.
Williams does a little of everything without one standout trait. Played for two head coaches across five seasons and two programs. A game that shows it: 129 rushing yards and 39 receiving yards against West Virginia — Week 4, 2025.
Style of play
Style of play
Play style
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
Similar players
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Where to follow
Career stats
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| 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@ No. 9 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 No. 14 Utah | 15 | 104 | 6.9 | 0 | 33 | |
| Total | 97 | 565 | 5.8 | 7 | 62 |
Signature game
Week 4 · 2025
W 41-10
129 rush yds (19 car) · 1 TD · 1 rec · 39 yds · 1 TD
Dominant 31-point win at home against West Virginia.
With F. Lappin — 46.2 yards per punt · 6 punts · 4 inside the 20 · E. Henderson Jr. — 6 rec · 38 yds
Signature plays
The plays that mattered most
- Week 4 · West Virginia · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +4.95Leshon Williams 62 Yd Run
- Week 4 · West Virginia · 4th and 1 · Q3 · EPA −4.15Leshon Williams run for no gain to the WVU 5
- Week 1 · Fresno State · 4th and 1 · Q1 · EPA +3.31Leshon Williams run for 19 yds for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
- Week 4 · West Virginia · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.14Jalon Daniels pass complete to Leshon Williams for 39 yds for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
- Week 10 · Oklahoma State · 4th and 1 · Q4 · EPA +3.00L.Williams rush right for 32 yards gain (E.Fletcher)
- Week 7 · Texas Tech · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Jalon Daniels pass complete to Leshon Williams for 10 yds for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
4 more plays
- Week 10 · Oklahoma State · 2nd and 5 · Q4 · EPA +2.44L.Williams rush middle for 5 yards gain for a touchdown
- Week 13 · Iowa State · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.15L.Williams rush middle for 24 yards gain (D.Surges)
- Week 5 · Cincinnati · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.96Leshon Williams run for 25 yds to the CIN 38 for a
- Week 6 · UCF · 2nd and 1 · Q2 · EPA +1.90Leshon Williams run for 1 yd for a TD (Laith Marjan KICK)
Rushing profile
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
94 of 97 carries matched to play-by-play
Success rate
45%94 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer yds16%of carries
15 carries
Grind
1–3 yds31%of carries
29 carries
Chunk
4–9 yds37%of carries
35 carries
Explosive
10+ yds16%of carries
15 carries
6 of 9 (67%) converted on 3rd/4th & short (≤2 to go) · 3 of 7 (43%) scored from inside the 5-yard line
5.8 yds/carry on 97 carries · 16% explosive (10+ yds) · 45% success rate.
Teams and coaches
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
Our ratings
Splits
Home and road splits, scheme and staff
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 11 games
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
Head Coach
Lance Leipold
Pass share
45.1%
344 pass / 419 run
Plays / game
63.6
12 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
371 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
97 carries and 5 catches in 11 games
About as many touches a game as a typical FBS running back who plays every week.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
58 · #90 of 326 RBs · 2025
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 base rate is computed
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
Six seasons, two schools
- 2025 Kansas LeipoldYear 6 · 11 games
- Oct 2024 Entered the transfer portalIowa to Kansas
- 2024 Iowa FerentzYear 5 · 3 games
- 2023 Iowa FerentzYear 4 · 14 games
- 2022 Iowa FerentzYear 3 · 12 games
- 2021 Iowa FerentzYear 2 · 2 games
- 2020 Iowa FerentzYear 1 · on the roster, no stat line
- High school H L RichardsOak Lawn, IL · Class of 2020Three-star, No. 647 in the 2020 class.
Moves
- Transferred from Iowa to Kansas, Oct 7, 2024.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The week the volume broke through — put up 174 yds at Wisconsin.Wisconsin · W 15-62023
2020
- RecruitedThree-star, out of H L Richards
2025 11 games
- Transferred to Kansasfrom Iowa
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
2 coaches2020–2024
Iowa
Played for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Kirk Ferentz and Lance Leipold.