Deuce Vaughn
Christopher "Deuce" Vaughn II is an American professional football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft. Vaughn is known for being the shortest running back to ever be drafted in the NFL.
Early life
Vaughn moved frequently growing up due to his father's occupation as a college football coach before settling in Round Rock, Texas, and attended Cedar [Ridge High School (Texas)|Cedar Ridge High School], where he played football and ran track.As a junior, he collected 1,901 rushing yards, 21 rushing touchdowns, 9 receptions, 159 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. He received honorable-mention all-state honors from the Texas Sports Writers Association.
As a senior, Vaughn broke Cedar Ridge's single-season rushing record with 1,938 yards, while having 589 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns. He rushed for 375 yards against Round Rock High School and 302 yards with 5 touchdowns against Westwood High School. He received his second straight District 13-6A Offensive MVP award.
He finished his high school career with 4,405 rushing yards and 38 rushing touchdowns, 914 receiving yards, 11 receiving touchdowns, 153 return yards and 5,472 all-purpose yards. Despite his size, Vaughn was a 3-star recruit who received multiple scholarship offers from programs like Air Force, Arkansas, Army, Kansas, Missouri, North Texas, South Florida, UTSA, and Wyoming, with preferred walk-on offers from Baylor, Oklahoma State, New Mexico, Texas Christian, and Virginia Tech.
College career
2020 season
Vaughn accepted a football scholarship from Kansas State University. He entered his freshman season as one of the Wildcats' top running backs and became the team's starter over Harry Trotter early in the season. He had three games on the season going over 100 rushing yards: 2020 [Texas Tech Red Raiders football team|Texas Tech], Baylor Bears football team|Baylor], and 2020 [Texas Longhorns football team|Texas]. He recorded a 129-yard receiving game against 2020 [Oklahoma Sooners football team|Oklahoma].He registered 123 carries for 642 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 25 receptions for 434 yards, two receiving touchdowns, and seven kickoff returns for 145 yards. He was named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year and second-team All-Conference.
2021 season
Vaughn entered his sophomore season on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award. He tallied 235 carries for 1,404 yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, 49 receptions for 468 yards and four receiving touchdowns. He had nine games on the year going over 100 rushing yards to go with one game going over 100 receiving yards.He posted 162 rushing yards, 70 receiving yards, and three rushing touchdowns, including an 80-yard touchdown run against 2021 [Kansas Jayhawks football team|Kansas]. He had 146 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown in the 2022 Texas Bowl 42–20 win against 2021 [LSU Tigers football team|LSU]. He was named as a Consensus All-American.
2022 season
As a junior, he recorded 293 carries for 1,558 yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 42 receptions for 378 yards, three receiving touchdowns and 1,936 all-purpose yards. He became the third player in school history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons and the first player with 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a career.He had 147 rushing yards and a touchdown in the regular-season finale against the Kansas Jayhawks football team|Kansas]. He tallied 130 rushing yards and one touchdown in the 2022 [Big 12 Championship Game|Big 12 Championship Game] 31–28 overtime victory against 2022 [TCU Horned Frogs football team|TCU]. He had 133 rushing yards, including an 88-yard touchdown, in the 45–20 2022 Sugar Bowl loss against 2022 [Alabama Crimson Tide football team|Alabama]. At the end of the season, he chose to forgo his senior season to enter the 2023 NFL draft.
He finished his college career with 651 carries, 3,604 rushing yards, 5.5-yard average, 34 rushing touchdowns, twenty one 100-yard rushing games, 116 receptions for 1,280 yards, 9 receiving touchdowns, 7 kickoff returns for 145 yards, 5,029 all-purpose yards, 258 points scored and 279 rushing yards in bowl games. He was one of just two Big 12 players to ever register 3,600 rushing yards and 1,250 receiving yards in a career. He was named a consensus All-American for the 2022 season.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
Vaughn was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft. His father, who is a scout for the Cowboys, called Vaughn to tell him he had been drafted. With a measurement at the combine of 5'5", Vaughn became the shortest running back ever drafted since the NFL began tracking the combine. On January 3, 2024, he was placed on the reserve/injured list with an ankle injury. He appeared in 7 games as a third-string running back, compiling 23 rushes for 40 yards, 7 receptions for 40 yards and 4 punt returns for 19 yards. He was declared inactive in 9 games. On January 5, 2025, Vaughn rushed six times for a career-high 37 yards. He had 6.2 yards per carry.In 2024, he appeared in 8 games as a backup running back and was declared inactive in 9 games. He registered 17 carries for 70 yards and 3 receptions for 18 yards.
On August 26, 2025, Vaughn was waived by the Cowboys as part of final roster cuts.