CJ Baxter

Cedric "CJ" Baxter Jr. (born June 28, 2005) Baxter played in the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game. A five-star recruit, he committed to the University of Texas at Austin to play college football.

College career

Texas Baxter entered his true freshman year at Texas in 2023 as the starting running back, becoming the first true freshman since Ricky Williams in 1995 to start the opener. He started the first two games of the season before missing the next two games due to a foot injury, which allowed Jonathon Brooks to take over as the starter. After Brooks suffered a season ending torn ACL, Baxter reclaimed the starting job. Overall, he played in 12 games with six starts and had 659 yards on 138 carries with five touchdowns.

Before Week 1 of the 2024 season started, Baxter suffered a knee injury during practice that required season-ending surgery. Because Baxter was projected to be the starting running back, this allowed Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner to playing a larger role.

In 2025, Baxter returned for his redshirt sophomore season. Prior to the season, he was named to the Doak Walker Award, Comeback Player of the Year Award, and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watchlists. In his first game back, Baxter logged 40 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards in the loss against Ohio State. In Week 3, Baxter suffered a hamstring injury against UTEP and was ruled out for the next two weeks. He ended the season with 196 rushing yards, 41 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown in eight games.

On December 8, 2025, Baxter entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Kentucky On January 11, 2026, Baxter committed to the University of Kentucky.

College statistics

Year Team Games Rushing Receiving GP GS Att Yards Avg TD Rec Yards Avg TD 2023 Texas 13 6 138 659 4.8 5 24 156 6.5 0 2024 Texas 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 2025 Texas 8 2 54 196 3.6 0 12 41 3.4 1Career 22 9 192 855 4.5 5 36 197 5.5 1