By Anthony Gorges
JC Post
DJ Giddens, a Junction City native, Junction City High School graduate, and now a former K-State Wildcat running back will hear his name called in this year’s NFL Draft. The Draft begins Thursday, April 24, at Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers.
Football has been part of Giddens's life for as long as he can remember. DJ played football for the Junction City Jr. Jays growing up, then for Junction City High School, and most recently was running back for the Kansas State Wildcats. “I still have videos of me playing for the Jr. Jays,” Giddens said. “I’m not going to lie, that feels just like yesterday. It was just playing and being free, no worries just having fun.”
In high school, DJ shined in his senior season at Junction City and helped lead the team to a sub-state appearance in the fall of 2020. Giddens explained that the sub-state game against Derby gave him the confidence that he could perform at the next level. “I feel like the Derby game, the last game of my senior year, gave me a lot of confidence going against a good team like that, and playing how I played,” Giddens said. DJ then graduated from Junction City in the spring of 2021 and began his K-State career where he redshirted that fall.
In 2022, Giddens played for the Wildcats and was part of the Big 12 Championship team that won the Title game in Arlington, Texas. He also played in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama that season.
In 2023, DJ was the main featured running back for KSU, as Deuce Vaughn had been drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. In his red-shirt sophomore season, Giddens earned Honorable Mention Big 12 Honors and helped lead the Wildcats to a victory over NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
2024 was the final season for Giddens at Kansas State, and he led the team in rushing yards. DJ finished the year with 1,343 rush yards and had seven rushing touchdowns. He also had three receiving touchdowns for the Cats as well.
DJ Giddens declared for the NFL Draft on Dec. 14, 2024, and did not play in KSU’s win over Rutgers in the Rate Bowl.
Looking back at his K-State career, Giddens noted the Oklahoma State game and the Colorado game both played during the 2024 season prove he can play in the National Football League. In the game against OSU, Giddens broke away from the defense and scored a 66-yard touchdown. “Having that touchdown run just shows I can finish off runs and be explosive too,” Giddens said. DJ finished that game with 187 yards rushing and one touchdown against the Cowboys. In the game against the Colorado Buffaloes, Giddens ran wild again. “The Colorado game, I was just playing free again, being myself, and got in that mode,” Giddens said. He finished the game with 182 yards against Colorado.
Giddens began preparing for the NFL Draft in January, when he went to Plano, Texas, to train for the NFL Combine in March. DJ had an exceptional performance at the combine, running a 4.43 40-yard dash. He was measured at 6 feet and 212 pounds.
The NFL Draft is this week, with round one on Thursday, rounds two and three on Friday, and rounds four through seven on Saturday. This year’s NFL Draft is in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Referencing hearing his name being called at the draft, DJ Giddens said, “It feels good, but it’s out of my control at this point for who will pick me up and when I will get picked up. Right now, I just keep on working, and that’s what I’m going to keep on doing,” Giddens said.
Despite all of his success at K-State, and now headed into the NFL, DJ knows the community he is from and said he plans to make it back to Junction City to visit. “I’ve got to come back, can’t forget about that, can’t forget it,” Giddens said. The path wasn’t always easy for DJ, and he had this to say. “Coming from me, being from Junction, I wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, I didn’t have the best grades, and everything wasn’t just in front of me. You just got to stay disciplined, keep working, stay humble, stay down till you come up, and if you keep working at what you want, you’re going to get where you want to be. Don’t ever think you can’t be that person doing whatever you want to do,” Giddens said.
DJ Giddens is projected to be a late day two, early day three selection in the 2025 NFL Draft.