Top Division II Transfer Running Backs Poised to Star in FCS Football in 2026

The transfer portal has reshaped roster-building at every level of college football, and FCS programs are increasingly looking one rung down the ladder to find difference-makers. With the portal window closed and National Signing Day behind us, the picture is coming into focus: two Division II running backs in particular stand out as players who could immediately alter the balance of power at their new FCS homes in 2026.

Sports Illustrated's FCS Football Central framed it directly: "Now, we take a look at the top Division II running backs who have a chance to become stars at the FCS level next season." The profiles that follow represent the most compelling cases for immediate impact.

The nickname is not a marketing gimmick. In only 10 games during the 2025 season, Jones recorded 1,722 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging 10.8 yards per carry, a number that strains credulity until you look at the film. Sports Illustrated called it "one of the biggest D2-to-FCS transfer portal additions of the offseason" when Stephen F. Austin landed the New Mexico Highlands freshman, and the superlatives are warranted. Jones earned AP All-American honors, was named the 2025 RMAC Offensive Freshman of the Year, and collected first-team All-RMAC recognition, all before playing a game at the FCS level. He now holds single-season program records for rushing yards and yards per carry.

The production translates across any level of analysis. A 10.8 yards-per-carry average over a full season is not a product of a soft schedule or garbage-time carries; it reflects a back who consistently turns routine handoffs into explosive gains. At Stephen F. Austin, Jones inherits an FCS stage with significantly more national visibility than the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference provided, and the Lumberjacks get one of the most electric freshmen in recent small-college history. SI described him as "fresh off one of the most impressive freshman seasons we've seen in recent history," and nothing in the numbers argues otherwise.

2. Jordan Barnett (Morgan State, from Shepherd)

Where Jones arrives as a lightning bolt, Barnett comes as something arguably more valuable to a program rebuilding its offensive identity: a proven, durable workhorse with three years of high-level production and zero seasons below 500 rushing yards. Across his career at Shepherd, Barnett accumulated over 2,300 rushing yards and nearly 30 touchdowns, carrying a 6.7 yards-per-carry average that held steady from his true freshman year through his final season.

His 2025 campaign removed any doubt about his ceiling. Barnett led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in rushing yards with 1,209, rushing touchdowns with 17, and points scored with 102, earning first-team All-PSAC honors in the process. Those are conference-leading numbers in a league that competes at a high level of Division II football. Morgan State turned to the D-II market for several key contributors this offseason, but as Sports Illustrated noted, "Shepherd running back Jordan Barnett may be the most impactful next season."

The consistency argument matters as much as the peak. Plenty of transfer running backs arrive at new programs with one standout season on the resume; Barnett has three consecutive years of 500-plus rushing yards, meaning the 2025 explosion was not a breakout from obscurity but rather the culmination of steady development. For a Morgan State offense that needed reliable production behind center, that track record is exactly what the portal was designed to uncover.

The broader context for these moves is worth noting. This D-II-to-FCS pipeline assessment came after Sports Illustrated released a separate ranking of the top 15 transfer portal running backs focusing on Division I transfers from FBS and FCS programs. The D-II tier was its own conversation, and for good reason: the gap between an elite Division II back and a serviceable FCS contributor is often smaller than recruiting rankings suggest. Jones and Barnett represent the upper end of that argument. Both arrive with hardware, statistics, and production timelines that would be notable at any level of college football.

Stephen F. Austin and Morgan State are not traditionally grouped together in FCS conversation, but heading into 2026, they share a common denominator: a belief that the right Division II running back, dropped into the right system, can be a program-altering piece. The numbers suggest both programs found exactly that.