Devin Marques Neal (born August 12, 2003) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

and was selected by the Saints in the sixth round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life

Neal grew up in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

and attended Lawrence High School. As a senior, he rushed for 1,327 yards and 20 touchdowns and was named first team Class 6A All-State. Neal was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play both football and baseball at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

over football offers from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

College career

Freshman year

Neal played in all 12 of Kansas's games during his freshman season and rushed for 707 yards and eight touchdowns on 158 carries. He became the first freshman in school history to be named the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Offensive Player of the Week after rushing 24 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns and also catching two passes for 26 yards and one touchdown. Neal finished his freshman year with 158 carries for 707 yards and 8 touchdowns rushing, along with 7 catches for 57 yards and 1 touchdown. He also played in seven games for Kansas's baseball team as a freshman.

Sophomore year

Neal was named the Jayhawks' starting running back entering his sophomore season. He was named the

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

national running back of the week and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after gaining 224 yards and scoring a touchdown on 32 carries and 110 yards on six receptions in a 37-16 over Oklahoma State. Neal was the first player to have at least 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game and the win made the Jayhawks bowl-eligible for the first time since 2008. Neal played in all 13 of the Jayhawks' games in 2022, rushing 180 times for 1,090 yards and 9 touchdowns while adding 21 catches for 183 yards and 1 touchdown.

Junior year

Neal played every game for the Jayhawks during his junior season. In a game against Nevada, Neal rushed for 89 yards and scored three touchdowns and also had a career-high 59-yard reception. Against Central Florida, Neal ran the ball 12 times for 154 yards, averaging 12.8 yards per carry with one touchdown. In the game against Oklahoma, Neal had 25 rushes for a total of 112 yards and a touchdown. Against Texas, he rushed for 137 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns. He rushed 18 times against Kansas State for 138 yards and tied his career-high with three touchdowns. Neal had 10 carries against Cincinnati for 108 yards, averaging 10.8 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns in a road victory. In total, Neal rushed 203 times for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns, as well as 1 receiving touchdown.

Senior year

Neal started every game for the Jayhawks during his senior season. In their game against #17 Iowa State, Neal passed

June Henley Charles Lee "June" Henley Jr. (born September 4, 1975) is an American former professional football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played one season for the St. Louis Rams (1998). Early life At Brookhaven High School in ...

to become Kansas' all-time leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, finishing the game with 116 yards and two touchdowns In his final home game, Neal had one of the defining games of his career, finishing with 287 total yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns against #16 ranked Colorado. Neal finished his career with 4,343 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns, both school records.

Statistics

Professional career

Neal was picked by the

with the 184th pick in the sixth round of the

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bioKansas Jayhawks baseball bioKansas Jayhawks football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Devin 2003 births Living people American football running backs Kansas Jayhawks baseball players Kansas Jayhawks football players Players of American football from Lawrence, Kansas New Orleans Saints players