By WIBW TV
MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - Junction City High School product DJ Giddens set single-season school records for total touchdowns (30), rushing touchdowns (30) and points (180) as a senior for the Blue Jays last season.
Now, the 6-foot-1, 207 lb. true freshman running back is turning heads at Kansas State.
“He’s done a tremendous job,” senior quarterback Skylar Thompson said. “He is a really good football player. DJ and RJ Garcia have been doing really well. Both of those two players you can tell have a natural feel for the game. They just have certain characteristics that you can’t really teach someone. When you’re watching somebody like, ‘Oh that dude gets it.’ I feel like both those guys are like that.”
Giddens scored five touchdowns — just the third player in JC history to do so — as the Blue Jays rallied past Wichita East in the 6A West Sectional final last season. His go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter pushed his team to a 49-42 win.
Junction City fell to eventual state champ Derby in the 6A semis. Giddens scored a pair of touchdowns as the Blue Jays lost 62-27.
Following a standout high school career, Giddens now joins a K-State running back room led by 2020 Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and 2021 Preseason All-American Deuce Vaughn.
The Rivals two-star recruit has caught the eye of head coach Chris Klieman early.
“DJ Giddens and Devrin Weathers are young players that the game has not slowed down for them, but they’re both talented young players,” Klieman said last week. “So, we’ll see what happens over the next few weeks. They’re going to have plenty of opportunities because we’re probably not going to hit Deuce a whole lot from a live standpoint. I want to see what some of those younger backs can do.”
“The biggest thing for them now is learning the playbook, playing fast,” Thompson said. “That’s the biggest thing. Our offense is pretty complex, we’re a pro-style system. There are a lot of moving parts. So once you understand that, you can play fast, watch out.”