New Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins bringing mixed reviews as a 2025 NFL Draft prospect

Former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins transferring to Ohio State was one of the biggest transfer portal moves this offseason. The rising junior took the college football world by storm as a true freshman in 2022, exploding for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. Judkins added another touchdown as a receiver, earning a spot on several Freshman and general All-American teams.

He once again was very productive in 2023, although a lot less efficient. Judkins would still run for 1,158 yards and score 17 total touchdowns, but his yards per carry average dropped to 4.3. That is a less than stellar, working behind an extremely underwhelming Rebel offensive line.

Once Judkins hit the transfer portal, the demand was extremely high for the talented runner. Verified at 5 '11 ⅛” and 219 pounds, Judkins is a powerful runner who has already earned a lot of fans for his potential as a 2025 NFL Draft prospect. That includes NBC Sports NFL Draft analyst Connor Rogers , who holds Judkins in high regard early on. He joined The First Team NFL Draft and College Football Podcast to discuss.

Related: Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai is an early favorite for the 2025 NFL Draft by several prominent analysts

Here is what Rogers had to say about the former Ole Miss superstar:

You look at the amount of carries this guy has, and I'm kind of glad he got at Ole Miss. Like selfishly for his own body, now he's going to split the workload a little bit at Ohio State with TreyVeon Henderson. The way this dude runs through players, you're talking about back-to-back seasons of 76 and 78 missed tackles forced. He’s jacked from head to toe. He kind of fits the mold of this class, just muscle on muscle. The way he ran last year, 871 yards after contact last year. Not all carriers are built the same. He got teams really piling on him and he was able to run through contact.

I saw there was a toss play that Ole Miss likes to run a lot and he has outside burst on that play for a size where it's like okay, I think he's a really scheme diverse runner, where if I want to be a gap team, I want to run downhill and then I want to kind of throw an outside zone play at you. I think he could do it all. That’s what I loved about Breece Hall coming out of Iowa State. You watch them on outside zone runs and he had a feel and bursts that were special. Then you watch him just run downhill through the A gap and he could lower his pads and run right through you. That’s a complete running back. Those are the guys that matter in this league the most, where it's all every scheme, all three downs.

Here's the thing with Judkins to consider. He’s got 73 snaps at Ole Miss in the slot or out wide. And they should have done it more. When you watch the plays they should have used them out even more as a pass receiver and that workload was insane. The amount of carries he's had over the last two years. He doesn't fumble. He just doesn't fumble. He's just a different kind of cat. He really is. When you're looking at that dude walking into a room and saying, okay, give me the ball 25 times today and we're going to find a way to win. Judkins looks like that guy.

Roberts’ Take

Judkins is someone that I have struggled with a ton. I truly do understand the appeal. He is a downhill physical runner who gets up to top speed in a hurry. Overall he is a very strong second effort runner who churns out a ton of hidden yardage. The athleticism, for me, is just NFL average. Judkins is a one gear runner who doesn’t seem to have much home run ability. He also has very, very inconsistent vision. There are several misreads that leave you wanting a lot more. A portion of the time, Judkins can make things harder on himself. There is upside as the power element in a committee approach, with solid starter upside. There is a major question if Judkins can be much more.