{"id":138585,"date":"2025-06-18T03:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T03:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/138585\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T03:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T03:11:10","slug":"elite-running-back-kj-edwards-commits-to-texas-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/138585\/","title":{"rendered":"Elite running back KJ Edwards commits to Texas A&#038;M"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Carthage (Texas) four-star running back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/db\/kj-edwards-162061\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KJ Edwards<\/a> is staying home, just not at the exact school everyone thought it would be. <\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Edwards spurned Texas \u2014 considered by many to be the leader in his recruitment \u2014 and committed to rival Texas A&amp;M, he told On3\u2019s Hayes Fawcett. The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder had both in-state programs among his top schools, along with Alabama, Baylor, SMU and LSU. <\/p>\n<p>He originally planned to commit August 2, but after his visit to College Station last weekend, he has decided to shut it down and commit to the Aggies. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no telling where A&amp;M can go under Coach Elko,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/news\/4-star-rb-kj-edwards-i-see-myself-staying-in-texas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he told On3\u2019s Chad Simmons in March<\/a>. \u201cThey improved a lot this season. My connection with coach Troop (Trooper Taylor) is strong too. Both of them reach out to me and my family which is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/news\/texas-am-five-stars-flip-targets-top-recruits-mike-elko\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">In another interview with On3\u2019s Steve Wiltfong<\/a> after that trip, he broke down what stood out about the Aggies\u2019 program: \u201dJust the overall genuine vibes the staff show to me and my family every time we step foot into Aggieland, we know we\u2019re going to enjoy our day every single time. And the coaches just proving and showing how serious they are about me and letting me know I\u2019m a game-changer and that\u2019s what they need to win championships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aggies getting one of the nation\u2019s top backs with Edwards<\/p>\n<p>Edwards is the No. 45 overall prospect in the 2026 class, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/db\/rankings\/industry-player\/football\/2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">On3 Industry Ranking<\/a>, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also ranks as the nation\u2019s No. 4 running back and the No. 6 recruit in the Lone Star State. <\/p>\n<p>As a junior, he rushed for 1,789 yards and 23 TDs while averaging an eye-popping 12.6 yards per carry. He showed off his skills in the receiving game as well, adding 30 receptions for 383 yards and 3 TDs as Carthage won the Class 4A-Division II state title. <\/p>\n<p>Over the course of his three-year career, Edwards has amassed more than 4,000 rushing yards and 54 touchdowns while averaging better than 11 yards per attempt. <\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s the 17th commitment for Elko and Co. this cycle, adding to a class that came into the day ranked No. 6 nationally in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/db\/rankings\/industry-team\/football\/2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings<\/a>. The Aggies now have four top-100 pledges with him, four-star wideout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/db\/aaron-gregory-152350\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aaron Gregory<\/a>, No. 6 RB <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/db\/jonathan-hatton-jr-157975\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jonathan Hatton Jr.<\/a> and four-star cornerback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/db\/victor-singleton-238790\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Singleton<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carthage (Texas) four-star running back KJ Edwards is staying home, just not at the exact school everyone thought&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,32475],"class_list":{"0":"post-138585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-kj-edwards-26-carthage"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114702180969474816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}