Anderson Castle is a running back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Duke.
Castle wears you down at the goal line. Played for two head coaches across six seasons and two programs. The first career honor came in 2025: ACC Running Back Player of the Week. A game that shows it: 92 rushing yards and 13 receiving yards against NC State — Week 4, 2025.
Play style
Short-yardage and goal-line specialist. Carries the load, owns the red zone.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Feast or famine
36.1% of the season's rushing yards came on the 5 best carries — and the back is stuffed on 21.1% of carries. 3 carries for 3 yds vs Virginia; 12 for 92 vs NC State.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
The closer
27.1% of carries overall (115/424) → 29.3% of Q4-with-lead carries (24/82) — 91.7% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
19 of 25 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (76.0%). 22 of the team's 37 inside-the-5 carries (59.5%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 14 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-17vs Elon | 3 | 69 | 23.0 | 0 | 63 | |
| Wk 2 | L 19-45vs No. 11 Illinois | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 3 | L 27-34@ Tulane | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 4 | W 45-33vs NC State | 12 | 92 | 7.7 | 3 | 66 | Season-high 92 yds |
| Wk 5 | W 38-3@ Syracuse | 10 | 42 | 4.2 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 6 | W 45-21@ California | 10 | 28 | 2.8 | 2 | 8 | |
| Wk 8 | L 18-27vs No. 12 Georgia Tech | 11 | 32 | 2.9 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 10 | W 46-45@ Clemson | 5 | 24 | 4.8 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 11 | L 34-37@ UConn | 8 | 43 | 5.4 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 12 | L 17-34vs No. 20 Virginia | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Wk 13 | W 32-25@ North Carolina | 13 | 49 | 3.8 | 3 | 9 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 14 | W 49-32vs Wake Forest | 12 | 21 | 1.8 | 2 | 8 | |
| Wk 15 | W 27-20vs No. 16 Virginia | 16 | 35 | 2.2 | 0 | 7 | |
 Bowl | W 42-39vs Arizona State | 5 | 18 | 3.6 | 1 | 9 | |
| Total | 115 | 488 | 4.2 | 12 | 66 |
Week 4 · 2025
W 45-33
vs NC State
92 rush yds (12 car) · 3 TD · 1 rec · 13 yds
Edged out NC State at home in a shootout.
With D. Mensah — 269 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 88.2 · K. Reynoldson — 39.3 yards per punt · 4 punts · 2 inside the 20
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How the yards come, and how often it works
Success rate
50%105 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.2 yds/carry on 115 carries · 7% explosive (10+ yds) · 50% success rate.
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often the receiver is targeted, and how well it works
Targets
194% of team targetsCatch rate
89%17 of 19 targetsShort · 0–9 air yds
89% catch rate on 19 targets · 4% of the team's targets.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 14 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 38.0 | 6.5 | 0.8 |
| Road6g | 34.5 | 4.7 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 40.1 | 7.3 | 1.0 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 29.6 | 3.1 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Manny Diaz
Pass share
53.3%
506 pass / 444 run
Plays / game
67.9
14 games
Team sack rate
4.8%
495 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
115 carries and 17 catches in 14 games, about as many touches a game as a typical FBS running back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #121 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #19 of 38 ACC RBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
The No. 2,416 recruit in the country is carrying the ball in the ACC as a senior.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Shawn Clark and Manny Diaz.
