There are three things you can count on in the NFL this time of year. Players coming off injury are "ahead of schedule." Healthy players are faster and more explosive. And there will probably be some arrests.
Cleveland's second-round running back Quinshon Judkins was arrested yesterday on domestic violence charges. This is a fantasy football site, not TMZ, so I'm not investigating it or able to comment on how legitimate they are. But Judkins seems to be in enough trouble that it could affect his preseason and beyond, and those drafting today (anyone?) should factor the arrest into their evaluations of the Cleveland backfield.
Judkins was the 3rd running back drafted, just a few picks into the second round. He's being drafted as a starter (24th at the position, according to ADP data). All along, it might have been a little too dismissive of Cleveland's incumbent, Jerome Ford.
Ford was just a fifth-round selection back in 2022, and if the team liked him as the heir apparent to Nick Chubb they wouldn't have not only selected Judkins in the second but another running back, Dylan Sampson, in the fourth. But let's not dismiss what Ford has done with his opportunities thus far.
The last two seasons, Ford has played at least 40 percent of the snaps 26 times -- sometimes starting, something coming off the bench behind Chubb. In those 26 games, he's averaged 11 points in PPR leagues, with double-digit fantasy points 15 times. That's without even playing more than half the time in 10 of those contests.
If you look just at the eight games where he's played two-thirds of the snaps, he's averaged 13 points per week. (Table shows all games where he played at least 40 percent of the time, sorted by percentage of the snaps.)
JEROME FORD WITH 40 PERCENT OF THE SNAPS | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Opp | Run | No | Rec | TD | %Snaps | Pts |
2024 | at Cin. | 92 | 5 | 39 | 0 | 80.3 | 18.1 |
2024 | NYG | 37 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 79.1 | 10.0 |
2024 | at L.V. | 58 | 7 | 27 | 0 | 78.0 | 15.5 |
2024 | Dal. | 44 | 6 | 25 | 0 | 75.0 | 12.9 |
2023 | at Den. | 65 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 69.9 | 11.9 |
2024 | at Den. | 41 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 66.3 | 7.2 |
2023 | Ari. | 44 | 5 | 33 | 0 | 64.4 | 12.7 |
2023 | at Bal. | 107 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 64.1 | 11.9 |
2023 | Bal. | 26 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 62.3 | 9.5 |
2024 | at Was. | 47 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 58.1 | 7.9 |
2024 | K.C. | 84 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 58.1 | 12.4 |
2023 | Jac. | 51 | 5 | 31 | 0 | 56.6 | 13.2 |
2023 | Ten. | 18 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 56.3 | 13.1 |
2024 | at N.O. | 10 | 4 | 29 | 0 | 56.2 | 7.9 |
2024 | at Pit. | 28 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 55.6 | 7.7 |
2023 | at LAR | 19 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 50.7 | 14.2 |
2023 | Chi. | 20 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 50.7 | 7.1 |
2023 | S.F. | 84 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 50.0 | 11.1 |
2023 | at Pit. | 106 | 3 | 25 | 1 | 49.4 | 22.1 |
2023 | Pit. | 31 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 49.3 | 5.9 |
2024 | LAC | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 45.6 | 1.7 |
2024 | at Jac. | 64 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44.4 | 7.4 |
2023 | at Ind. | 74 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 42.7 | 11.4 |
2023 | at Hou. | 25 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 42.7 | 3.3 |
2023 | Cin. | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.5 | 3.6 |
2023 | NYJ | 64 | 2 | 57 | 2 | 40.0 | 26.1 |
However things work out with Judkins (or even if this blows over, but Judkins is slow to pick up the offense or something), Ford should have a role. Maybe in a committee, with one of the rookies. But there's enough of a track record to suggest he'll be viable in fantasy leagues, either as an initial starter, or as part of a tandem. Worth a late pick.
--Andy Richardson