Cowboys 2021 Signing Day: Running Backs

STILLWATER – The December Signing Period for Oklahoma State is finally upon us and the Cowboys are bringing in some talented athletes. Pokes Report is detailing every signee with in-depth profiles and analysis, as well as premium content on the class. We’ll also have head coach Mike Gundy’s thoughts on the signees and exclusive interviews as well.

We’ve bundled together each signee by position group and we’ll be looking at the running backs below.

• Jaden Nixon
• Jaylen Warren

(The profiles were created by Robert Allen)

Jaden Nixon, RB, 5-10, 175, Frisco (Lone Star), Texas

Nixon is a “smurf” type running back but as you’ve seen in the Big 12 those type of players are having huge success. Nixon has shown at the highest level of high school football in Texas that he can handle the physicality of playing running back as this season he had 95 carries for 554-yards and 10 touchdowns. He is averaging 5.8-yards per carry. He has 13 receptions for 173-yards and another three touchdowns. Nixon is an explosive player for Lone Star, a team that has a chance to go far in the playoffs. Last season he helped offset the state’s top receiver in Marvin Mims that is now at Oklahoma. Nixon had 90 carries for 821-yards and 14 touchdowns with 18 catches for 262-yards and a pair of touchdowns. He is a two-sport athlete as he runs the 100 and 200-meters in track and has best times of 10.62 in the 100 and 21.71 seconds in the 200. Nixon will start as a running back but could bounce out to slot receiver some too. He is also a candidate to returns kicks and punts as he has some of that experience in high school. Oklahoma State jumped in early and got his commitment when Air Force, Army, Navy, Louisiana, Tulsa, North Texas, UTSA, and Nevada were his best offers.

Jaylen Warren, RB, 5-8, 215, Utah State/Snow C.C./Salt Lake City (East), Utah

A Utah State transfer with one year of eligibility remaining. Played in three games rushing for 252 yards and three touchdowns as the lead back for the Aggies and also caught five passes for 33 yards. He totaled a season-high 136 rushing yards against Fresno State, including an 86-yard touchdown run. He was named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List prior to the season. He played in 12 games and finished the season second on the team in rushing as he carried the ball 112 times for 569 yards (5.1 ypc/47.4 ypg) and five touchdowns and he added 15 receptions for 182 yards (12.1 ypr). His best game came when he had 19 carries for a season-best 141 yards, including a four-yard touchdown, in the season opener at Wake Forest. He earned Academic All-Mountain West honors for his work in the classroom. In junior college he was named the 2018 NJCAA National Offensive Player of the Year and an NJCAA first-team All-American after helping lead Snow College (Ephraim, Utah) to an 8-3 record and No. 9 national ranking. He played in the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Falls, Iowa as a sophomore in 2018. Warren racked up 1,435 yards rushing on the season and led the nation with 159.4 yards rushing per game. In high school he was tabbed the 2016 Deseret News’ Mr. Football and the Salt Lake Tribune Player of the Year after leading East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, to an undefeated 14-0 season and second consecutive Class 4A state championship. He helped the Leopards lead the nation in rushing with 6,797 yards (485.5 ypg). He totaled 3,099 yards rushing to shatter the 37-year-old single-season state rushing record, while becoming the first player in the history of Utah high school football to ever reach the 3,000-yard plateau. He was tabbed the Deseret News’ 4A MVP as a junior in 2015 after rushing for 1,984 yards and 19 touchdowns as the Leopards captured their first state title since 1996. Jaylen is the son of Derrick and Neta Warren. He is majoring in sociology.