When Baylor’s top rusher from the last two seasons, Bryson Washington, left for Auburn via the transfer portal following an injury-riddled 2025 campaign, the Bears elected not to add a running back because, even without Washington, the position was viewed as a strength.
There’s no bell cow expected to get 20-plus carries per game, but running backs coach Khenon Hall called his group tough, smart and dependable and believes Baylor has four players — Dawson Pendergrass, Caden Knighten, Michael Turner and Ryelan Morris — capable of starting at any program in the Big 12.
“They understand it's only one football,” Hall told the media in Tuesday’s press conference. “You get one carry, you get 10 carries. You gotta shine in that role. They understand that. Obviously those guys probably want 15 and 20 carries apiece, but they understand it's a team goal, and we're trying to go win. They understand that it doesn't matter how many carries or touches you get in there. We're going in to win. They’ve got to go out there and execute and do their job.”
When asked about a potential starter, Hall made it clear that the designation isn't particularly important, as each player will have opportunities to prove himself week to week.
“The good thing about having a lot of guys is they got to show up every day,” Hall said. “You can't take a day off. What it does is breed confidence and breed a competitive edge in the room. They knew when they were getting recruited that we had a deep room, so they knew coming in that it's basically running back by committee, and you got to show up every day. That's what keeps the room sharp and moving forward.”
Caden Knighten figures to have a significant role in Baylor's running back rotation this fall. After posting 603 yards from scrimmage last season, along with two touchdowns, the returning sophomore believes there’s a strong chemistry within the running back room and that egos have to be checked at the door in order to pursue what’s best for the team.
“We're one team,” Knighten said. “This is a commitment, brother by brother. We all have our great traits. We all have our own qualities. We all play a vital role in each series of snaps. Whatever we need to do to go get the job done, we have the running backs to go do it.”
Last season, Hall’s running back unit faced some adversity early and often as Pendergrass missed the entire year with a foot injury and Bryson Washington battled a litany of injuries, forcing the Bears to lean on guys who started fall camp further down the depth chart.
After injuries tested Baylor’s running back depth last season, Hall is confident the Bears are better equipped to handle any adversity that comes their way this fall, saying, “I'm happy to have that much depth because, as in the past, the last few years, guys have gone down. I'm tried and true in this. Everywhere I've been, I've had multiple running backs, three and four running backs, because I understand the physicality part of the game. You’ve got to have a guy to go in there and better execute and be explosive and do the things we need to get done in this offense.”
Speaking of injuries, Pendergrass is now fully recovered from his foot injury and has taken the majority of Baylor's first-team reps during fall camp. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound bruiser has totaled over 1,300 all-purpose yards across his first two seasons in the Green and Gold and is excited to get back onto the field.
“It feels amazing,” Pendergrass said of being healthy. “All that work that went into it, getting back right, getting ready. We have a great training room, and they got me back right. I have great teammates. They stayed by my shoulder the whole time, and I'm just ready to go out there.”
Beyond his return to the field, Pendergrass has also emerged as one of the veteran voices in Baylor's locker room. Having spent his entire career in Waco, he's experienced plenty of highs and lows under Dave Aranda and remains firmly committed to his head coach entering a pivotal season.
“I feel like Coach Aranda’s bringing in a lot of energy, and that's really helping us out a lot,” Pendergrass said. “We can really tell how much he cares about us and how much he wants us to succeed, because I know that if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have a place to go after high school. I'm just very grateful for him. We’ve got a bunch of guys that might not have had a place to go if it wasn't for him. They're just willing to fight for him.”
With Aranda’s back to the wall and needing a successful season to stay in Waco beyond 2026, Pendergrass believes the coaching staff did a great job with the players who returned and those who transferred in, instilling in them a hunger to win.
“I'm very, very confident about this year,” Pendergrass said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that made a decision: if they transferred in, if they decided to stay, they made a decision last year that they want to win, and they're going to do everything in their power to do that.”
With Pendergrass being a veteran, he’s seen his fair share of running back rooms and believes this to be one of the better ones he’s been part of.
“This is a very, very deep room,” Pendergrass noted. “We'd be okay if anybody went out there and ran the ball. Everybody's got the skill set. Everybody's put in the work all summer. Everybody's been putting in the work all camp. It’s a next-man-up mentality. If someone goes down, we’ve still got somebody else, so I'm very confident in this room.”
One of the other key pieces in the running back room is sophomore Michael Turner. Turner, a former four-star prospect, has battled injuries dating back to his time at Richland High School. When healthy last season, however, Turner flashed his potential, rushing 65 times for 320 yards.
“He's done a good job of getting better,” Hall said of Turner. “Mike’s pad leverage has gotten better. Last year, coming off the knee, he was working through that stuff, and now he just has a [locked-in] mindset. You saw today just how different he is running the ball physically downhill, so it also applies in his pass pro as well.”
Hall also emphasized the importance of pass protection, an area where Morris, the four-star freshman, has impressed. Despite being the smallest member of the room at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Morris has quickly earned a reputation as one of its most physical players.
“The physical part, that's a mindset,” Hall said. "Speaking of Ryelan, he's 185 pounds, but he's tough as nails. You've seen him time and time and time again go in there and stick these linebackers in the hole.”
Pendergrass noted that Morris is continuing to stack good days and added, “Something that really, really surprised me about Ryelan is probably his toughness. He is a very, very tough guy.”
Baylor’s running back room is also adjusting to playing next to a new starting signal-caller, Florida transfer DJ Lagway. The running backs, however, haven't needed much time to build a strong rapport with Lagway.
“DJ is a great dude,” Knighten said. “I really love being around him. He spreads positivity everywhere. He knows ball. He's really smart. I like being around him and taking information from him.”
Meanwhile, Hall believes Lagway, as long as they keep him upright, will help unlock another dimension to the running game, especially after Baylor didn't feature much of a quarterback run threat with Sawyer Robertson last season.
“DJ is unbelievable,” Hall said. “Coach Spav and Coach Rhett are doing an unbelievable job with him. With Coach Spav’s offense, we got to make sure we do our job and protect him. But I think with him adding the weapons that he has, obviously he's got a strong arm and great accuracy. He can run the ball as well. It opens up the offense for the running backs. So all that does with a guy like that — he's a triple threat or whatever you want to call him — it just makes our offense more explosive and better. I tell Coach Spav all the time, like, it's hard to defend him because you can't be right.”
