Knights Under Lights: Gus Edwards
In Knights Under Lights, The Daily Targum looks at players who distinguished themselves during their time on the Banks.
Gus Edwards played just one season for the Rutgers football team, and in true Scarlet Knights fashion, he made the most of his opportunity. In his lone season on the Banks, Edwards became the engine that propelled then-head coach Chris Ash's offense to new heights. Rutgers merely provided him with the gasoline.
Edwards began his collegiate career with Miami and appeared in 29 games for the Hurricanes from 2013 to 2016. His play could be defined by a single word: efficient.
Edwards averaged 5.1 yards per attempt on 66 carries and scored five touchdowns in his freshman year. He then averaged 5.7 on 61 rushing attempts, along with six touchdowns in his sophomore season.
After an injury sidelined him for the entirety of his junior season, Edwards appeared poised for a larger workload after receiving redshirt status ahead of his fourth season.
That larger workload never came to fruition, though. Nonetheless, Edwards still totaled nearly 1,000 yards from scrimmage in three collegiate seasons in South Beach, Miami. Ahead of his final collegiate season, Edwards opted for a change of scenery and entered the transfer portal.
Miami blocked Edwards from Syracuse and Pittsburgh due to a school policy prohibiting graduate transfers from joining teams on the Hurricanes' schedule, leading Edwards back to the tri-state area. Edwards had visited the Knights during his initial recruitment in 2013 but committed to Miami a week later.
This time around, Rutgers was able to land Edwards.
The redshirt senior rushed for more than 700 yards on the ground for the Knights and added just more than 100 yards in the air. He also scored a career-high seven total touchdowns, six rushing and one receiving.
At the end of the season, Edwards was a co-recipient of the Homer Hazel Award, which recognizes Rutgers' most valuable player in a single season. Although the Knights concluded the 2017 season with four losses in their last five Big Ten matchups, Edwards certainly turned heads during his time in the Garden State.
Following his electric final season, Edwards declared for the 2018 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound rusher went undrafted and signed with the Baltimore Ravens.
Edwards began his professional career on a high note, rushing for 718 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and two touchdowns in his rookie season. His sophomore season in the NFL was eerily similar, as he totaled 711 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry and another two touchdowns on the ground.
The efficiency that made him a star in college was now cementing him as one of the most productive rushers in the entire league. In 2020, Edwards enjoyed his finest season, starting 6 of 16 games and producing more than 850 yards. He scored six rushing touchdowns on the year to help the Ravens make their third straight playoff appearance.
A torn ACL injury sidelined Edwards for the entirety of the 2021 season, costing him a shortened 2022 season as well. While his fourth professional season was cut in half, Edwards rushed for 433 yards on 87 carries and tacked on three touchdowns.
After recovering from his injury, Edwards was able to average exactly 5 yards a carry in 2022, even after sliding down the depth chart, following the emergence of Ohio State product J.K. Dobbins.
After a September injury sidelined Dobbins for the remainder of the 2023 season, Edwards was given yet another golden opportunity.
Edwards made the most of that opportunity last Sunday, dominating the Detroit Lions to the tune of 144 scrimmage yards and a touchdown for one of the most productive games of his professional career. Edwards will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the backfield for Baltimore.
"The Bus" shone the brightest on the Banks, but the near future could be much brighter for the former Knights running back.
For more updates on Knights Under Lights, follow @TargumSports on X.
To view more of Jackson DiLullo's work, follow @jackson_dilullo on X.
