Wisconsin football RB Dilin Jones entering the transfer portal

Wisconsin Badgers starting running back Dilin Jones intends to enter the transfer portal after two seasons in the program.

The University of Wisconsin football program is set to lose its starting running back, who has decided to move on from the Badgers.

Redshirt freshman tailback Dilin Jones, who earned the starting job coming out of fall camp, announced that he plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2, opting to continue his college career elsewhere after two seasons under Luke Fickell in Madison.

Jones’ departure closes the door on a player who was expected to be a key piece of Wisconsin’s backfield. As a true freshman, he appeared in three games for the Badgers and showed flashes in limited opportunities, carrying the ball 16 times for 88 yards. Notably, 80 of those yards came after contact, and he forced eight missed tackles, early indicators of the physical running style the staff believed could translate with a larger role.

That opportunity came in 2025. The Maryland native carried the ball 76 times for 300 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and two touchdowns, with a long run of 16 yards. He logged those numbers across seven games before a foot injury suffered against Ohio State that prematurely ended his season.

According to PFF, Jones finished the season with a 69.9 offensive grade and a 73.5 mark as a runner, forcing 12 missed tackles and producing 226 of his 300 rushing yards after contact. He will have three years of eligibility left.

Context matters here. Jones’ redshirt freshman season unfolded in an offense that never quite found its footing. Injuries piled up along the offensive line, forcing constant shuffling, and Wisconsin finished the season as a well below-average run-blocking unit. In the first year under offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, the expectation was that Jones would be a central piece in a wide-zone running scheme that fit his skill set.

“He’s the kind of the core, the culture, the effort, and the attitude,” Fickell said of Jones during fall camp. “Everything he does, he does with intensity, he does with speed. Whether he has the ball in his hand, whether he doesn’t have the ball in his hand, whether it’s a shift, or whether it’s a motion. He has really done a great job at just embodying what the culture looks like.”

That vision never fully materialized on game days. Still, the opportunity was there for Jones. He earned the starting job out of camp for a reason.

A former four-star recruit in the 2024 class out of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Jones arrived on campus as one of the more impressive offensive players that Fickell’s staff recruited. At 6-foot and 208 pounds, he brought a compact, physical build and the type of one-cut ability that Wisconsin believed could translate quickly at the Big Ten level. He chose the Badgers over several high-profile programs, and internally, there was confidence he could become a long-term answer at tailback.

That belief didn’t disappear because of performance. If anything, Jones’ season felt far more about circumstance than production. The lack of a consistent push up front made it difficult for any running back to find a rhythm and move the chains. Without a credible downfield passing attack, opposing defenses could load the box, making life even harder. Jones was someone the staff felt strongly about coming out of high school. That makes Jones’ exit from the program notable, even if it’s understandable.

Jones is now the second running back from Devon Spalding’s room to enter the transfer portal this offseason, joining Cade Yacamelli, who saw limited opportunities in Wisconsin’s backfield throughout his career.

For Wisconsin, the loss creates another layer of urgency in the portal. The Badgers will need to replace not just carries, but also some of the upside and long-term projection that Jones represented when he signed as part of a three-man class that in 2024 included Darrion Dupree and Gideon Ituka. For Jones, the next stop offers a chance to reset, get healthy, and find an offensive system better positioned to maximize what he does well.

It’s another reminder that in this era, even players who win jobs early and flash potential can find themselves reevaluating the path forward. Opportunity, health, and fit still matter. And for both sides, this one simply reached its conclusion sooner than the Wisconsin Badgers expected.

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