Transfer Stats (Vol. 2): A North Texas Trio Should Get Oklahoma State’s Ground Game Back in Gear

PORTAL TRACKER

STILLWATER — Producing a 1,000-yard rusher used to be a relatively safe bet for the Cowboys. Oklahoma State’s top back hit that mark five out of eight years from 2016-2023, and one of the misses was the weird 2020 campaign.

Seven of those eight seasons saw the Cowboys eclipse 2,000 yards on the ground as a team. While postseason games help, an extra outing wouldn’t have put OSU over 2,000 in either of the last two seasons. Barring a strong finish, OSU wouldn’t have produced a 1,000-yard rusher with that additional game either.

While much focus has been placed on Eric Morris’ track record with quarterbacks, his last North Texas offense rushed for 2,722 yards (17th in the nation) and produced a featured back in Caleb Hawkins, who finished fifth nationally with 1,434 yards in his freshman season.

Now, several of those pieces, including Hawkins, are in Stillwater.

RB Caleb Hawkins (North Texas)

Stat: 86 missed tackles forced

Why it’s interesting: That ranked fourth nationally, and everyone ahead of him on the list had at least 26 additional carries.

If that doesn’t impress, then take a look at how many missed tackles Oklahoma State’s last four teams produced.

2025: 59

2024: 70

2023: 92 (Ollie Gordon had 62)

2022: 93

Maybe Hawkins’ numbers come down to earth a bit playing against Power Conference opponents. He averaged just over six missed tackles per game in 2025. Even if he only forced four missed tackles per game next season, Hawkins would be on pace to finish just shy of Gordon’s 2023 numbers, assuming he played an equal number of games.

Now imagine he stays on a similar pace in 2026…

OL Johnny Dickson (North Texas)

Stat: 6.6 yards per attempt

Why it’s interesting: That’s what North Texas averaged running behind the right guard where Dickson played all of his 818 snaps. UNT ran behind the right guard 63 times, and it was the second most successful spot behind only the left side of the center (averaged 6.7 on 74 attempts).

The right guard spot also accounted for an average gain of five yards after contact. Yards after contact can be a tough stat for offensive linemen, but considering this far exceeds any other spot (running off a tight end on the right side produced the next highest average of 4.27), it likely suggests that UNT backs either weren’t facing strong contact in the backfield or were getting well past the line of scrimmage before contact occurred.

Hawkins specifically averaged 7.5 yards per attempt behind the right guard and 6.4 yards after contact. Both numbers ranked second for the freshman, behind only the right end spot behind a right tight end.

OL Braydon Nelson (North Texas)

Stat: 71.3 Run-blocking grade

Why it’s interesting: Nelson’s grade puts him a full point behind Dickson, but he’s just a hair behind OSU’s highest graded run blockers (looking at heavily involved offensive linemen only) since 2022.

Here’s the list of former Cowboys to pass him:
Dalton Cooper- 71.6 in 2023
Jason Brooks- 71.6 in 2022

Nelson played 77% of his nearly 1,000 snaps in 2025 at left tackle. He played roughly 2.67 games at right tackle. Looking at the two games where he played only on the right side, UNT ran the ball eight times off the right tackle for 48 yards, an average gain of six yards per carry.

The rest of the season, UNT only ran off the right tackle 2.2 times per game for an average gain of 5.2 yards per carry. It’s a small sample size, but it does speak to his talents clearing a path for runners.

Previous deep dives on transfers include:
Oklahoma State’s big-play passing game poised to explode in 2026, plus a look at OSU’s most likely slot defender