Quinshon Judkins was one of the few bright spots for Cleveland last year. The second-rounder didn't sign until late and didn't even step on the field in the preseason, but he upgraded the running game as soon as he did.
Some may have forgotten that Judkins actually ended the year on IR, fracturing his fibula and dislocating his ankle in late December. But Browns GM Andrew Berry said over the weekend that Judkins should have some participation in offseason workouts and be a full-go for training camp. We'll see, but it at least seems like those with early best-ball drafts can take any injury discount and be reward with one of last year's better young runners.
Judkins didn't have a huge season or anything, since there weren't a lot of touchdowns, he wasn't a big part of the passing game, and the team itself was godawful. Prior to getting hurt, he'd been struggling to do much in the second half of the season, with another rookie, Shedeur Sanders, running the offense.
But in the early part of the season, with Joe Flacco at quarterback for most of those games, the offense was better, and so was Judkins. In the first half of the season, with him featured in six games, Judkins averaged 71 rushing yards. That was a top-10 figure the first half of the season (table shows per-game numbers the first half of the year, sorted by rushing yards).
| RUNNING BACKS, FIRST HALF OF SEASON (MINIMUM 6 GAMES) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Run | No | Rec | TD | PPR |
| James Cook, Buff. | 8 | 108.4 | 1.6 | 12.5 | .88 | 19.0 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 9 | 99.4 | 3.0 | 24.2 | 1.59 | 24.9 |
| Javonte Williams, Dall. | 9 | 79.6 | 2.8 | 10.3 | 1.00 | 17.8 |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | 8 | 78.6 | .8 | 5.8 | .75 | 13.7 |
| J.K. Dobbins, Den. | 9 | 77.2 | 1.1 | 3.3 | .44 | 11.8 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 8 | 74.8 | 2.4 | 13.9 | .38 | 13.5 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 8 | 74.4 | 5.1 | 57.9 | .50 | 21.4 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 8 | 73.3 | 2.5 | 20.8 | .75 | 16.4 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 8 | 72.6 | 2.6 | 22.3 | .25 | 13.6 |
| Quinshon Judkins, Cle. | 6 | 70.8 | 1.5 | 8.3 | .83 | 14.4 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 8 | 68.9 | 3.6 | 24.6 | .88 | 18.2 |
| DeVon Achane, Mia. | 9 | 67.3 | 4.8 | 30.4 | .78 | 19.2 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | 8 | 66.8 | 2.9 | 25.5 | 1.25 | 19.6 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | 7 | 66.3 | 2.6 | 27.4 | .71 | 16.2 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 9 | 66.2 | 6.8 | 69.6 | .89 | 25.7 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phi. | 8 | 64.9 | 3.0 | 19.9 | .75 | 16.0 |
| Ashton Jeanty, L.V. | 8 | 60.9 | 2.5 | 16.6 | .75 | 14.8 |
| Cam Skattebo, NYG | 7 | 59.0 | 3.1 | 27.9 | 1.05 | 18.1 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 8 | 59.0 | 1.3 | 10.0 | .38 | 10.4 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 7 | 57.7 | 3.0 | 27.6 | .43 | 14.1 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | 9 | 53.3 | 2.1 | 15.9 | .22 | 10.4 |
| Kyle Monangai, Chi. | 7 | 51.7 | 1.1 | 10.3 | .14 | 8.2 |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 8 | 49.4 | 1.6 | 13.3 | .63 | 11.6 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 6 | 47.0 | 2.5 | 19.7 | .50 | 12.2 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | 9 | 46.7 | 3.7 | 22.3 | .37 | 12.8 |
| Nick Chubb, Hou. | 8 | 44.4 | 1.3 | 6.8 | .25 | 7.9 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 9 | 41.9 | 3.1 | 16.7 | .11 | 9.6 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 8 | 41.1 | 1.4 | 5.4 | .25 | 7.5 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 8 | 34.9 | 2.0 | 21.1 | .42 | 10.1 |
Cleveland, of course, still has issues. The quarterbacking (either Sanders or Deshaun Watson, or probably both) won't necessarily be at Flacco's level. Judkins himself has to prove fully healthy. And they'll work in another back in passing situations, probably Dylan Sampson. If I sorted the above table by PPR scoring rather than strictly rushing, Judkins wouldn't look as appealing.
But I'm interested. Talented guy, and the offense probably won't be worse this season than last year. A guy to keep in mind, particularly in Standard formats.
--Andy Richardson
