LJ Martin
LJ Martin led the Big 12 in rushing and won Offensive Player of the Year. He could have moved on. Instead he's "not done yet" -- back to chase BYU's career rushing record and the program's first real Playoff push.
Buzz vs Tape
Country hotter than the fans
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 21.4 points in belief.
The BYU Cougars claim the spotlight as Big 12 favorites, with sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier and dynamic running back LJ Martin poised to lead one of college football’s most compelling teams into the upcoming season. After…
— Jake Hatch, Kalani Sitake, Bear Bach…
Also worth knowing:
The story
He led the Big 12 in rushing with 1,305 yards on a conference-high 236 carries, scored 12 times, added 36 catches, and walked off with Offensive Player of the Year -- the workhorse engine of a BYU team with rising ambitions. He returns for his senior season with two prizes in sight: the school's career rushing record (within about 1,347 yards) and a CFP berth, paired with quarterback Bear Bachmeier in a backfield built to contend. The forward stakes are legacy and a ceiling: the most-used back in his conference, chasing a number that would etch him into BYU history and a season that could put the Cougars in the Playoff for the first time. For Martin, 2026 is the year the productive grinder goes for something permanent.
Career Arc
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Kalani Sitake.
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalani Sitake
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025
W 24–21
vs Utah
122 rush yds (26 car)
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.
How he plays
Play style
Martin is a high-volume, reliable lead back rather than a flashy one. Our play-by-play has him solidly above-average -- a 73rd-percentile yards-per-carry on the heaviest workload in his conference -- with the efficiency profile of a grinder (mid-pack success rate and EPA per carry) who wins by accumulation and durability more than explosion. He's a dependable receiver too (36 catches), the every-down sort a Playoff hopeful can lean on for 25 touches without blinking. The game is steadiness: he doesn't come off the field, he doesn't fumble away games, and over four quarters the yards pile up. For a team chasing its first Playoff, that kind of bell-cow reliability is its own form of star power.
Our classifier reads him the same way: just keeps getting the ball, series after series.
2026 Outlook
BYU
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Running back · BYU
Returning around him
- 87% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
- 2 BYU players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -4 net (9 in / 13 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
BYU · Last season: 12-2 (AP #12) · Talent rank #70 · 2026 recruiting class #21
Perception vs tape
He led the Big 12 in rushing with 1,305 yards on a conference-high 236 carries, scored 12 times, added 36 catches, and walked off with Offensive Player of the Year -- the workhorse engine of a BYU team with rising ambitions. He returns for his senior season with two prizes in sight: the school's career rushing record (within about 1,347 yards) and a CFP berth, paired with quarterback Bear Bachmeier in a backfield built to contend.
Read the story →DNA match
Player DNA
Workhorse
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Ollie Gordon’s 2023 season.
Matches Ollie on
Differs from Ollie on
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Rhamondre Stevenson’s path through Oklahoma.
Rhamondre Stevenson
Mekhi Sargent
Cooper Wallace
Calvin Turner
Matches Rhamondre on
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Ollie Gordon's junior season at Oklahoma State (2024).
Matches Ollie on
Player DNA
Players who play like LJ Martin
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2025
Peak #54
Peaked at #54 this season.
Development
Development Trajectory · rushing yards
2023–2025+152%
Up 152% from first season to most-recent.