The Kentucky football season is right around the corner with kickoff coming on Sept. 5 against Youngstown State. There are a lot of new faces on the roster in addition to a new coaching staff, one including the running back position room.

This room will greatly need to rely on staying healthy if the offense wants to perform as planned this year. The reason being is this running back room has had an injury-filled past.

Expected starting running back CJ Baxter spent three seasons at Texas and he dealt with injuries in his final two years there. After rushing for 659 yards in his freshman season (2023), Baxter then missed the entire 2024 season with a knee injury before appearing in only eight games last season (2025) due to a hamstring injury. Now, he’s looking to get back to his old self and stay healthy because he’s not the only one in that position room hoping to stay healthy for a full season.

Oklahoma transfer Jovantae Barnes has also had a past with injuries. He is a former top-150 recruit in his high school class and totaled 1.469 yards and 13 touchdowns during his three seasons with the Sooners. His best season came in 2023 as a junior where he totaled 577 yards on the ground, 5 touchdowns, as well as 17 catches for 123 yards. He appeared in 11 games his freshman season with one start and was limited due to injury in every season after that with the Sooners. He redshirted in 2025 before transferring to Kentucky. Both he and Baxter missed some time in the spring as they were ramping back up to one hundred percent.

Behind those two is Jason Patterson, who has been a quality backup the past few seasons for Kentucky. But, there is a big gap between Baxter and the others behind him. The former Longhorn is widely seen as Kentucky’s RB1 to start the season. Staying healthy will be a massive priority and given the injury past of the position room, it’s an even bigger one than you may think. Depth is also a reason why health is such a big priority. Kentucky has clear options with Baxter, Barnes and Patterson, but who else will step up after that? That’s a big, big question entering the season.

Combine the questions around depth and the importance of staying healthy, Kentucky’s running back room doesn’t have much room for error. The weekly physicality of the SEC will undeniably take its tole on Kentucky’s backs, so we just need to be prepared for what could come.

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