D.J. Giddens was a no-star recruit out of high school. The running back, while setting a Junction City High School record for touchdowns (30) his senior season and finishing high school with 1,912 career rushing yards, wasn't ranked by online recruiting services in 2021. Recruiters believed he would start out at community college before trying to make his way to an FBS school. Signing day came and went, and he was still unsure where he would end up.
That is, until he heard from Kansas State head coach Chris Kleiman. Kleiman had seen the Kansas native play in high school, kept in touch and eventually extended Giddens the only scholarship offer the running back would receive.
Four years later, with hard work and lots of faith, Giddens heard his name called in the NFL Draft.
"I just kept praying on it, and once I got that call, man, unexplainable," Giddens said Saturday. "It was unexplainable."
In 39 games (25 starts), Giddens rushed for 3,087 yards on 517 carries with 23 rushing touchdowns, and totaled 58 receptions for 679 yards and four receiving touchdowns. In 2024, he rushed for over 100 yards in seven games and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors. He ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February, which was No. 7 among running backs.
Giddens believes he can bring a great deal to the Colts' running back room, with versatility and dependability at the top of the list. But there's one other thing he intends to bring immediately.
"Productivity, man, that's the main thing," the 21-year-old said. "Just immediate productivity. Special teams, whether that's on offense, whether that's just competing in the room to help other people (get) better, in the weight room, anywhere. Immediate production, that's the main thing. Just have some worth on the team."
Giddens' confidence in himself and his abilities is clear, but he's had to work at it. In his hometown of Junction City, Giddens was a star; he played on his high school's varsity team as a freshman and went on to set school records, earn first-team all-state honors and help his team go far in state playoffs. But when he got to college, things changed.
"Where I come from, it's like, you're not seeing nobody do certain things," Giddens explained. "Nobody was going D1, nobody was the best in the country. So when you make it to that next level, you like, oh everybody's the best in the country, everybody's this and that. And you kind of doubt yourself a little bit because you weren't around all that."
But Giddens put his head down and kept working. He trusted the process, his coaches and himself. He put in extra work before and after practice to expand his game to where he's confident in his running, catching and blocking abilities alike. Now, he's reaping the benefits.
"The most gratifying part is just trusting the process, I ain't gonna lie," Giddens said. "Never giving up, putting my faith in God, listening to coaches, trusting my teammates…and then being an inspiration to other kids in the community that want to be where I'm at or want to go down the same route, but they're doubting themselves. Just being an example."
