Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 62-13vs UL Monroe | 9 | 52 | 5.8 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-13@ Minnesota | 18 | 113 | 6.3 | 2 | 30 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-34@ South Carolina | 21 | 115 | 5.5 | 0 | 43 | Season-high 115 yds |
| Total | 48 | 280 | 5.9 | 2 | 43 |
#24
Fluff Bothwell
Junior running back for Mississippi State. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
5′10″ · 230 lb · Oneonta, AL · Oneonta HS (South Alabama)
CFB Index 56 · #98 of 326 RBsHigh confidence
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
How he plays
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series.
Success rate: 95th percentile.
The full scouting readThe numbers
280
rushing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 113 rush yds, 2 TD, 3 rec yds, at Minnesota
Swing playSwung Mississippi State from 53% to 80% to win.Tennessee at Mississippi State · 41-34
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Junior running back for Mississippi State. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
- Signed as a 3-star recruit to South Alabama in 2024.
- Transferred from South Alabama to Mississippi State in 2025.
Aura™ · Him Watch
Hype = tape
+6aura tax
Fans rank this player in the 45th percentile of RBs; the tape says
39th pctl our rushing-value metric (wEPA) RBs · 140 qualified, n=27
— the discourse is fair.Aura — fan perception45th pctl
Production — on-field39th pctl
n=27 mentions · cohort: RBs · 140 qualified · perception = conversation volume, production = our rushing-value metric (wEPA)
Buzz vs Tape
Every angle we can check here reads about where you'd expect this season.
46thattention percentile · vs RBs
39thproduction percentile · vs RBs
Also checked out fine:
Fluff Bothwell
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series. Across three seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Major Applewhite and Jeff Lebby. 2024 brought the first one: All-Sun Belt. The receipt: 115 rush yds, 22 rec yds against South Carolina — Week 3, 2026.
280 RUSH YDS · 2 RUSH TD · 48 CARRIES
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- recognition record
- game log
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
The week the volume broke through — put up 134 yds vs Tennessee.Tennessee · L 34-412025
202412 games
- Signed with South Alabama3-star out of Oneonta
- All-Sun Beltthird
202511 games
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-SUN BELT
All-Sun Belt mention (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Mississippi State
Played his entire career under Jeff Lebby.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Mississippi State | 48 | 280 | 5.8 | 2 | -- |
| 2025 | Mississippi State | 142 | 677 | 4.8 | 6 | -- |
| 2024 | South Alabama | 112 | 834 | 7.4 | 13 | -- |
| Career | 302 | 1,791 | 5.9 | 21 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Mississippi State | 3 | 41 | 13.7 | 0 | -- |
| 2025 | Mississippi State | 14 | 105 | 7.5 | 0 | -- |
| 2024 | South Alabama | 12 | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 29 | 236 | 8.1 | 0 | -- |
Game log
Game by game
Fluff Bothwell's 2026 production
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2026
W 41–34
115 rush yds (21 car)
Edged out South Carolina on the road in a shootout.
With K. Taylor — 251 yds · 4 TD · 1 INT · QBR 87.9 · 33 rush yds (8 car) · E. Pulliam — 38 yards per punt · 3 punts · 1 inside the 20
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 3 · South Carolina · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.21(08:55) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush middle for 43 yards gain to the USC32 (#5 K.Daniels Jr.), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · South Carolina · 3&12 · Q3 · EPA +3.11(07:34) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 K.Taylor pass complete short left to #24 F.Bothwell caught at USC42, for 22 yards to the USC23 (#0 F.Johnson), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Minnesota · 2&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.44(00:24) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush middle for 5 yards gain to the MINN00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:22 #80 K.Ferrie kick attempt good (H: #47 W.Wilkinson, LS: #46 K.Rushing)
- Week 2 · Minnesota · 2&3 · Q3 · EPA +2.38(10:45) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush middle for 30 yards gain to the MINN38 (#14 K.Brown), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · UL Monroe · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.82(14:18) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush left for 14 yards gain to the ULM34 (#30 M.Ross), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · South Carolina · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +1.60(14:41) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush left for 8 yards gain to the MSU45 (#17 J.Okoronkwo), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Minnesota · 1&3 · Q4 · EPA +1.46(12:34) Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush middle for 3 yards gain to the MINN00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:32 #80 K.Ferrie kick attempt good (H: #47 W.Wilkinson, LS: #46 K.Rushing)
- Week 1 · UL Monroe · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.42(14:56) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 K.Taylor pass complete short left to #24 F.Bothwell caught at State29, for 16 yards to the State41 (#9 J.Calender), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · South Carolina · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +1.32(14:02) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush left for 9 yards gain to the MSU37 (#17 J.Okoronkwo)
- Week 2 · Minnesota · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.22(07:44) No Huddle-Shotgun #24 F.Bothwell rush left for 13 yards gain to the MSST49 (#49 M.Kingsbury), 1ST DOWN
2026 snapshot
Since week 2: +115 rushing yards, +1 catch.
Season context · Team result + system
2024South Alabama7-6HC: Major Applewhite · Balanced
2025Mississippi State5-8HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning
2026Mississippi State3-0HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
High confidence
Elite: success rate (95th percentile). Strength: epa / carry (86th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (28th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Box-score rates (7)
Season trend
Last seasonThis season
EPA / carry
58th → 86th percentile
Success rate
84th → 95th percentile
Explosive rate
52nd → 28th percentile
Yards / carry
45th → 81st percentile
TD rate
75th → 44th percentile
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Rushing profile
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
48 of 48 carries matched to play-by-play
Success rate
58%48 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer yds8%of carries
4 carries
Grind
1–3 yds29%of carries
14 carries
Chunk
4–9 yds52%of carries
25 carries
Explosive
10+ yds10%of carries
5 carries
3 of 3 (100%) converted on 3rd/4th & short (≤2 to go)
5.8 yds/carry on 48 carries · 10% explosive (10+ yds) · 58% success rate.
Splits & context
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home1g | 52.0 | 5.8 | 0.0 |
| Road2g | 114 | 5.9 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 93.3 | 5.9 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jeff Lebby
Pass share
44.6%
91 pass / 113 run
Plays / game
68.0
3 games
Team sack rate
4.8%
105 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-SEC
Based on 2025: #14 of 37 SEC RBs
How the All-SEC estimate is computed
22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
How he plays
Play style
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
CFB Index positional classification
Starter
The No. 2,364 recruit in the country is carrying the ball in the SEC as a junior.
DNA match
Player DNA
Workhorse
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
RB
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Jasen Oden Jr.’s 2014 season.
Matches Jasen on
Receiving share
Rush TD rate
Yards / carry
Differs from Jasen on
Height (lower)
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to JJ Cowan’s path through Campbell.
Matches JJ on
Yards per carry
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jonah Coleman's junior season at Washington (2024).
70%match
All-Big TenNFL Rd 4
Matches Jonah on
Height
Differs from Jonah on
Class year (lower)
Recruiting rating (lower)
EPA / carry (adj) (higher)
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #87
Peaked at #87 this season.
Background
Career Honors 2025 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll 2024 Third Team All-Sun Belt Career Notes Played in 23 career games with five starts … Following the 2025 season, had 1,509 yards on 253 carries with 19 touchdowns … Six career 100-yard rushing games … 2024 Sun Belt leader in rushing touchdowns…
The backfield · Mississippi State
- #24Fluff Bothwell677 rushing yards · 2025
- #5Xavier Gayten157 rushing yards · 2025
- #6Kolin Wilson26 rushing yards · 2025
- #22Brinston Williams2 games · 2026
- #25Cooper Crosby1 game · 2026
1 more on the roster · Mississippi State team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology