#20 Rodney Fields Jr.
Redshirt Sophomore* | 5-9 | 193 lbs. | Wright City, Oklahoma
- Position: Running Back
- Previous College: Oklahoma State University
- Projection: Second-String
- Remaining Eligibility: 3 years
- Status: On Scholarship
Rodney Fields Jr. (b. Nov. 11, 2004) is young yet experienced running back who transferred from Oklahoma State and is majoring in sociology. He will be a key part of our three-man running back rotation this season and also may return kicks and punts, with special teams coordinator Stanton Weber saying he “has been a guy we’ve tried back there a little bit” back in May.
Fields saw action in four games in 2024 as he retained his redshirt*, rushing 21 times for 99 yards — which included a 19-yard touchdown
against Texas Tech — while he also hauled in two passes for 23 yards.
He had a season-high eight carries for 38 yards at BYU, in addition to 29 yards against the Red Raiders, and his two receptions on the year came at Baylor.
Last season, Fields saw action in nine games with eight starts, rushing for 614 yards and a touchdown for the Cowboys while recording 276 receiving yards and another score on 28 receptions. (This production is especially notable as it came during Oklahoma State’s two worst seasons in recent memory.)
His 614 rushing yards ranked sixth among Power 4 freshmen last year, while his 276 receiving yards and his 28 receptions both ranked third among Power 4 freshman running backs and the latter was the third most for the Cowboys in 2025. In all, Fields ranked sixth in the Big 12 Conference with 98.89 all-purpose yards per game.
He rushed for a career-high 163 yards — including a career-long rush of 41 yards — to go along with a touchdown against Cincinnati. It was the fifth-highest single-game total for a freshman in OSU school history, while it was the eighth-highest rushing total among Power 4 freshmen in 2025.
When adding in Fields’ 27 receiving yards, his 190 scrimmage and all-purpose yardage total were the most among Big 12 freshmen in 2025, while his rushing yardage ranked second. He tallied the first 100-yard rushing game of his career against Tulsa when he went for 113 yards, and he recorded 87 rushing yards at UCF.
Fields opened the game’s scoring against Houston with a 63-yard touchdown reception, a career long, and he also had five catches for 75 yards against Baylor, four catches for 46 yards against K-State and six catches for 39 yards against Tulsa. (Watch his season highlights from the Big 12 here.) He also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors and was named to the 2025-26 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Football team.
In Stillwater, Fields played with fellow transfers and current K-State long snapper Jaxson Duffield, defensive end Wendell Gregory and linebacker Jacobi Oliphant Jr. His cousin, LaDainian Fields, is still a defensive back at Oklahoma State.
Fields played his senior season of high school under head coach Robert Jones at Del City (Okla.) High School, where he was viewed as the 38th-best running back in the Class of 2024 by On3, while he ranked No. 47 by ESPN. He also was rated the fifth-best overall prospect in the state of Oklahoma by On3 and sixth best by ESPN.
Fields rushed for more than 3,100 yards and posted 1,000 receiving yards with 54 touchdowns (43 rushing, 11 receiving) during his high school career, during which he averaged 10.9 yards per carry and helped to lead the Eagles to a Class 5A District 3 championship and 5A state championship appearance with a 13-1 record.
Fields rushed for 1,156 yards and 18 touchdowns on 103 carries as a senior while hauling in 12 receptions for 257 yards and two scores. He previously rushed for 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns as a junior at Southeast High School in Oklahoma City, where he also competed in track and field.
Here is what running backs coach Cory Patterson, who brought Fields with him from Stillwater, had to say back in June about his protégé:
Rodney has that chip on his shoulder there, but he freaking wants to do it right, and he’s going to work his tail off. He is one of those dudes that every opportunity he gets, he’s going to play like it’s his last one. He’s the young guy of the three, and he’s here to push those older guys every day. He’s learning from Joe (Jackson) and picking up stuff, and when he gets onto the field, he has the chance to do something really special. I didn’t play him too much last year at Oklahoma State, but when he was in the game, he made an impact.
Skill wise, this kid can make you miss in a phone booth. He has the trait of not being hit head-on. It’s going to be hard to tackle that guy. Him being a short guy — he’s not small, he’s short — and it’s hard to get a clean shot on him. You rarely see anybody line him up. He has elite quickness in small spaces. He’ll be good for us.
*K-State has recently announced a new classification scheme that designates players by their year of eligibility regardless of whether they have “redshirted,” a term that will go out of use with the new “5-for-5” rule. Thus, the KSU SID lists Fields as a true junior even though he barely played in 2024. For the sake of consistency with past posts, I will continue to designate redshirts based on their playing history, but also note their remaining eligibility to stay consistent with the new designations as well.
