The obvious difference between last season and this season at the running back position is that the Deacs will be without Demond Claiborne, who was drafted in the 6th round of the NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. While Claiborne had somewhat of a down year in 2025 (finished with under 75 rushing yards in 7 of 12 games), his 2,599 career rushing yards put him as the 4th best rusher in Wake Forest history (behind Chris Barclay, James McDougald, and Michael Ramseur) and his 26 career rushing touchdowns
are good for the 5th most in school history. With just 1 returning back who carried the ball more than 5 times last season, the Deacs had to hit the portal to find some depth for their ground game.
At a Glance
- Key Returns
- Ty Harris III: 75 rush, 323 yards, 3 TD, 209 rec yards, 1 rec TD
- Key Additions
- KD Daniels (Florida): 28 rush, 120 yards, 1 TD
- Sawyer Seidl (North Dakota): 188 rush, 897 yards, 13 TD, 177 rec yards, 4 rec TD
- Key Losses
- Demond Claiborne: 179 rush, 907 yards, 10 TD
Ty Clark III
Clark, a 6-0, 207 lbs. junior from Nashville, Tennessee, is the aforementioned only returning running back who carried the ball more than 5 times last season. He played in all 13 of Wake’s games last year and finished the season with 75 carries for 323 yards (4.3 avg) and 3 rushing touchdowns. We got a pretty good look at how Clark would handle the starting job in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where he carried the ball 17 times for 91 yards and added 3 receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown in Claiborne’s absence—all but about 10 of those receiving yards came courtesy of a 62 yard touchdown off of a shovel pass to seal the win for the Deacs.
While Clark may not have the breakaway speed of Claiborne—who was the fastest running back in the NCAA—I think he showed in the bowl game that he is perfectly capable of taking the reigns of RB1 and producing at a high level for the Deacs this season. Hopefully he will have a similar year 3 bump that turned Claiborne into a 1,000 yard rusher.
KD Daniels
KD Daniels is a 6-0, 200 lbs, running back that transferred to Wake Forest from Florida. While he was rated as a 4-star prospect and the 14th best RB in the 2024 recruiting class, Daniels never really got a chance to show what he could do with the Gators. In 10 games with UF last season, Daniels ran the ball just 28 times for 120 yards and a single touchdown, coming on a 1 yard Wildcat run against Mississippi State.
With just 39 career carries under his belt, its hard to know exactly what we can expect from Daniels this season if and when he is given more opportunities to run the ball. His former coaches often talked about how explosive he was as a runner and how quick his first step was, so hopefully he can add some speed and big play potential to the running back room. He clearly has potential, so hopefully getting more chances to carry the ball will allow him to rise up to that 4-star rating this season.
Sawyer Seidl
Seidl is a 5-10, 175 pound back who transferred to Wake from North Dakota. He is kind of the opposite of KD Daniels in that he was an unrated prospect with just 2 FBS offers (Army, NM State) and has proven himself at the FCS level. Last season, Seidl ran the ball 188 times for 897 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Fighting Hawks, while adding 19 receptions for 177 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. He was also a weapon on special teams and has returned 28 kicks for 790 yards (28.2 avg) and 1 touchdown over the past 2 seasons. He helped North Dakota finish with an 8-6 record and their first FCS Playoff win since 2020.
At just 175 pounds, he is obviously on the smaller side for a running back, but based on the clip above it doesn’t seem like that really slowed him down any at all in the MVC. The question will be whether his ability to stay on his feet and finish runs translates to the ACC, where the defenders will be much bigger, stronger, and faster. The Deacs really only used 2 backs last season (Claiborne and Harris accounted for around 85% of non QB runs), so Seidl could simply be more of a depth piece in case of injury.
The Rest
The rest of the running backs right now are just a lot of question marks. Redshirt Freshman Jamar Searcy is the only other returning player who got carries last season, and he ran the ball all of 5 times in 3 blowout games. Redshirt Sophomore Ryan Henley and Redshirt Freshman Kalil Townes have both played just 2 games in their time at Wake Forest, so I am not expecting them to contribute too much this season. The Deacs also added just 1 back in the 2026 class in Deuce Lawrence, who was rated as a 3-star prospect and ran for 2,267 yards and 30 touchdowns in his senior season at Thomas County Central.
Depth is pretty important to the running back position—they get hit on almost every play—but Dickert and the offensive staff did not use many backs last season. As long as the guys stay healthy, the Deacs should be solid with Ty Clark taking the keys to the ground attack and Daniels and Seidl spelling him on occasion. A mobile QB also gives the team an extra running back on designed running plays, so Wake should be have 3-4 solid options to run the ball in the backfield this season.
