Kansas State running back Treshaun Ward has joined the hoard of college stars entering the transfer portal. Ward will be looking for an opportunity to make an impact on whatever team he lands on.
The running back actually begun his college career at Florida State, but he did not play all that much as a Seminole. Across four seasons, Ward only registered 188 carries. However, when given an opportunity, Ward was efficient by averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
In search of a bigger role, Ward transferred to Kansas State. While he wasn't as efficient in his lone season at Manhattan; his 5.2 yards per carry was surely impressive. Even if it was the lowest of any season he's registered more than ten carries. He spent time splitting carries with fellow Wildcat running back DJ Giddens.
Treshaun Ward is a proven and reliable college running back who can help out any team. Plenty of teams will be calling and trying to land him out of the portal. The question is: where is the best place for him to go? Two Big Ten programs stick out as good potential landing spots.
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines are a program that hasn't really relied upon the transfer portal. But they will dip their toes in the water if they can land a player who can really help their team. One of those players was center Drake Nugent. Nugent began his college career at Stanford, but moved to Ann Arbor and has put up one heck of a season for the Wolverines.
Nugent replaced former Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi, who got drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Ward, or any running back who joins the Michigan program for next season, could be in a similar spot as Nugent.
Blake Corum, Michigan's star primary running back, eschewed the NFL in order to come back for the Wolverines this season. Corum could come back for next season, but it seems likely this will be his final season at Michigan.
The same could apply to Donovan Edwards, Michigan's backup running back, but he might need to come back to school. Edwards averaged a bleak 3.4 yards per carry and 8.8 yards per reception this season.
That is a far cry from the 7.1 yards per carry and 11.1 yards per reception he averaged last season. Edwards could come back, but Michigan likes to split their backfield anyway. Ward could help take some of the load off of Edwards in Ann Arbor next season.
Wisconsin Badgers
Michigan could have two running backs leave the program after this season, but it seems more likely only Corum will go. But there's another Big Ten team that has two running backs leaving the program. That would be Wisconsin, where star 19-year-old running back Braelon Allen has declared for the NFL Draft.
Allen was the leading rusher for the Badgers this season. He put up 981 yards and 12 touchdowns on 181 carries. He put up 3,494 yards in three seasons at Madison, averaged 5.9 yards per carry, and scored 35 touchdowns. He also added 49 receptions for 274 yards as a receiver.
But that's not all Wisconsin is losing. Chez Mellusi has been a solid change-of-pace back for the Badgers after transferring in from Clemson. His workload decreased each year in Madison, but he made a nice complement next to Allen in that backfield.
Those two combined for 359 carries in 2021, 342 carries in 2022, and 232 carries in 2023. Wisconsin will have to replace that production somewhere. They could do a lot worse than landing Treshaun Ward out of the transfer portal.
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