OSU running back Jaden Nixon enters transfer portal, per report

A key player as a backup running back for Oklahoma State the past two seasons, Jaden Nixon has entered the transfer portal, according to a report from 247Sports.

Speculation began to arise when Nixon did not travel with the team to the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 2. For the season, the redshirt sophomore rushed for 197 yards and a touchdown on 50 carries, serving as the primary backup to Doak Walker Award winner Ollie Gordon II. Nixon also caught 12 passes for 123 yards and had 11 kickoff returns for 230 yards.

Nixon showed a knack for big plays in his career. While redshirting in 2021, he had a 63-yard touchdown run against TCU, one of his only carries of the season.

Last year, he had a 51-yard run against Texas that helped spark OSU's victory, and a 98-yard kickoff return at Baylor. This season, he caught a 60-yard touchdown pass at Iowa State and had a crucial 4-yard reception on a fourth-and-2 play against BYU that kept a late touchdown drive alive on the way to a double-overtime victory.

For his career, Nixon had 500 rushing yards and 315 receiving yards, while averaging 24.2 yards on 26 kickoff returns.

A Dallas native who played high school ball at Frisco Lone Star, Nixon is an OSU legacy. His father, Jeroid Johnson, was an OSU football player and his mother, Tina Nixon, ran track at the school, which is where they met in the mid-1990s.

Without him, plus the departure of Elijah Collins, who is out of eligibility after the bowl game, the Cowboys will be down to two scholarship running backs on the roster in Gordon and true freshman Sesi Vailahi.

OSU has a commitment from Rodney Fields Jr. of Del City in the 2024 signing class, but could continue to look for other options at the high school level or in the transfer portal to boost depth next season.