Tag: Quinshon Judkins

Four Big Ten players crack PFF’s top 10 players in college football entering 2024

The Big Ten has some of college football’s top players in 2024:

ProFootballFocus’ recently-released ranking of the top players in college football reached its conclusion on Friday. The top 10 of the list includes four Big Ten athletes.

PFF ranked Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham No. 3 overall, Michigan cornerback Will Johnson No. 4, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs No. 8 and Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins No. 10.

Colorado star receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter came in at No. 1 overall on the list, while Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II followed at No. 2.

Graham, who enters his third season in Ann Arbor, earned an All-American second-team selection as a sophomore for the Wolverines. On the interior, he registered 36 tackles, 3.0 sacks, three quarterback hurries, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Johnson, meanwhile, earned Defensive MVP of the 2023 National Championship Game during Michigan’s triumph over Washington. The game-wrecker was both a first team All-American and consensus first team All-Big Ten selection with four interceptions across 12 appearances.

Ohio State’s Downs transferred to the Buckeyes after a spectacular freshman season with Alabama. The safety earned Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year honors and was pinpointed as the SEC Freshman of the Year by its coaches.

Judkins also transferred to OSU ahead of the 2024 slate. Unlike Downs, he played his college ball at Ole Miss before the move. He enters the Big Ten as a 2023 All-SEC First Team member.

Why the Buckeyes running backs should feast in the Chip Kelly-led offense

How much of a difference will Chip Kelly make for the Ohio State rushing attack this fall? #GoBucks

Chip Kelly started his coaching career in Columbia in 1990 and then consistently bounced around from Columbia to New Hampshire to Johns Hopkins, trying to find his rhythm after serving as a coach for multiple different positions.

He found his footing as the offensive coordinator and then head coach for the Oregon Ducks, who are ironically now in the Big Ten. Kelly made his name by featuring a spread offense and running it at 100 miles per hour, which worked perfectly for the players he was able to put on the turf.

Having been a running backs coach earlier in his career, Kelly’s presence should bring career years for TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, just as it did decades ago.

How is Kelly planning to feed two high-profile mouths at the same time? Well, one just has to look at his Oregon offensive numbers to see what success could look like.

In 2008, the Ducks’ lead back, Jeremiah Johnson, went for 1,201 yards on 168 carries. LeGarrette Blount, on the same team, totaled 137 carries and 1,002. The team ended 10th in the AP Poll and finished with the 7th-most points per game in the nation at 41.9.

As a head coach in 2010, Kelly’s team finished 1st of 120 FBS programs, notching 47 rushes per game. Kelly knows how to utilize the players to be success, and he’s going to have a gold mine of talent for 2024.

The Buckeyes secured a surprise transfer in Quinshon Judkins, who is coming from Ole Miss. Now a junior, Judkins rushed for 1,100-plus yards in each of his last two seasons.

There’s also the incumbent Henderson, who notched 1,248 yards as a rookie but then had that dwindle to 926 last season. Henderson has been listed as the starter on most depth charts, but it is going to be a committee.

Looking at Kelly’s past, he’s found ways to utilize his players, and that should be the same in 2024. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think both could hit career-best numbers this coming year.

Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins dubbed the most important non-QB transfer

ESPN has named Quinshon Judkins as the nation’s most important non-QB transfer. #GoBucks

The Ohio State football team has one of the most impressive rosters in the country and are expected to be among the teams vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Given the way college sports in general have unfolded over the last few seasons, transfers from other programs are starting to have increasing importance, and former Ole Miss running back Quishon Judkins is one of the most important names in college football.

In fact, ESPN actually labeled him as the most important non-QB transfer.

ESPN staff writer Bill Connelly wrote on the most important college football players. Will Howard, the likely Ohio State starting quarterback, topped the list, and Judkins came in at No. 18.

“Judkins and Henderson rushed for 10 yards or more on about 14% of their carries last season, and both averaged around 3.0 yards per carry after contact,” Connelly wrote. “Henderson’s ceiling is probably higher when healthy (he’s also a super-dangerous receiver), but now you’re not banking your season on Henderson’s health. With Henderson, Judkins and slot man Emeka Egbuka, you’re giving transfer quarterback Will Howard some vast riches to play with.”

Judkins was a star before joining the Buckeyes, rushing for 1,567 yards during his first season with Ole Miss and then going for 1,158 yards during his second campaign. Judkins chipped in 17 touchdowns in both seasons.

He was a surprise transfer portal player considering how good Ole Miss is supposed to be this season, but the long history of elite backs that have through Columbus likely helped persuade him to join Ohio State.

That said, Judkins will be important, and ideally, he’ll be a key factor in getting some pressure off the shoulders of Will Howard.

Ohio State football has 3 players on the Maxwell Award watchlist

Only three Buckeyes?!?

Now that the Big Ten media day’s are in the rear view mirror, Ohio State football can now focus on getting ready for the start of the season.

With that comes award watch lists, and the [autotag]Maxwell Award[/autotag] announced its 2024 watchlist on Monday. Three Buckeyes made the list: quarterback [autotag]Will Howard[/autotag], running back [autotag]Quinshon Judkins[/autotag] and wide receiver [autotag]Emeka Egbuka[/autotag].

The annual award given out to the best all-around player in college football did have one notable Ohio State omission, running back [autotag]TreVeyon Henderson[/autotag]. The committee most likely had to pick just one of the Buckeye running backs, but in reality, both should be on there.

It’s worth noting that former Ohio State quarterbacks Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Kyle McCord (Syracuse) both made the list as well. Hopefully it’s one of the current Buckeyes who takes home this award.

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Report: Ohio State loses back-up running back T.C. Caffey for the season

Not the best news for the Buckeyes as the season gets closer to starting

Ohio State football has the best one-two running back punch in all of college football with [autotag]TreVeyon Henderson[/autotag] and [autotag]Quinshon Judkins[/autotag].

There are some question marks about who plays behind them, and on Thursday that got a bit more murky. Back-up and walk-on, [autotag]T.C. Caffey[/autotag], was expected to get carries behind the top two, but a season ending knee injury will end his shot before it even begins.

According to a report by 247Sports Dave Biddle, the third-year back will not be available for the year. The depth will be challenged, as two true-freshman, James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon, will now compete for carries behind the stars.

With the expanded College Football Playoff, head coach Ryan Day was expected to play more of his depth. This clearly has thrown a wrench into those plans for the running back position.

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CBS names Ohio State running back room one of the best in the country

CBS names Ohio State running back room best in country #GoBucks

We are at peak off-season, where the portal is closed and rosters are mostly set. Most of the news circling the college football community is either in regard to recruiting or someone’s list or ranking. CBS Sports has provided us entertainment in the latter category with Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports releasing his top five running back rooms with Ohio State headlining the group.

Even the most staunch Buckeye hater would have to agree that a backfield composed of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins is pretty insane. Mix those two All-American candidates with a consensus top ten back in the 2024 recruiting class in James Peoples, and its hard to find a weakness.

Georgia was listed at No. 2, and this also makes sense with the addition of Trevor Etienne. Kansas makes an appearance at No. 3, due to the return of Devin Neal. The most controversial pick of the bunch is probably Texas at No. 3 despite the loss of Jonathan Brooks. UCF earns the nod at No. 5 in large part due to the addition of Peny Boone through the portal.

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Pro Football Focus ranks top running back rooms. Where is Ohio State?

Do you agree with this assessment? #GoBucks

It’s no secret that the Ohio State football team has a ton of talent coming back. And while everyone likes to talk about how talented the defense will be, there’s plenty of it on the offensive end as well.

Look no further than the duo at the running back position as proof of the talent at the skill positions on that side of the ball. It could be argued that the Buckeyes have one of the best backfields in the country with both TreVeyeon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins looking to make opposing defensive coordinators scratch their heads.

But don’t just take our word for it. In fact, Pro Football Focus released its top ten backfields in college football for 2024 and Ohio State was at the very top. Rounding out the top ten was UCF (2), Georgia (3), Penn State (4), Ole Miss (5), Miami (FL) (6), Oregon (7), Kansas (8), Kansas State (9), and West Virginia (10).

While the Buckeyes are in great shape in the running back room, they will need the quarterback position and offensive line to have improved play from last season to crush all of the goals for this season.

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EA Sports releases the cover players for College Football 25 video game

EA Sports releases the cover players for College Football 25 video game and they’re all prominent 2025 NFL Draft prospects too

One of the most anticipated video game releases in years is coming soon. EA Sports is bringing back the wildly popular college football game later this year.

In advance of the game’s release on console platforms later this summer, EA Sports has released the cover of the “College Football 25”. It features several prominent college football players who are popular first-round projections for the 2025 NFL Draft, too.

Among those players/prospects featured on the cover, which was released on social media:

  • Michigan RB Donovan Edwards
  • Texas QB Quinn Ewers
  • Colorado WR/DB Travis Hunter

They are the primary visible cover players, but they are not alone. Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, Georgia QB Carson Beck and Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins are also visible, as are unnamed players from other programs who will be featured in the game.

From social media posts on X

Ohio State named top running back unit in college football by On3

Ohio State’s star-studded running back duo of Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins claimed the top spot on On3’s rankings.

One of the biggest returnees for Ohio State coming into the 2024 season was Treveyon Henderson. After landing star running back Quinshon Judkins via the transfer portal out of Ole Miss, the Buckeyes will feature a star-studded running back duo.

On3’s college football columnist, Jesse Simonton, is very high on Ohio State’s running back duo as the Buckeyes claimed the top spot in his running back unit rankings in an article released last week.

Henderson was a key component to the Buckeyes offense last season. His burst and acceleration is among the best in college football as he can eliminate angles from defenders in the open field to turn a solid gain into an explosive play better than just about any running back in the game.

Judkins is widely considered one of the best running backs in college football and one of the biggest transfer portal additions any team made in the offseason. He has a complete skillset as a runner with very good vision and patience, hitting holes with good acceleration and explosiveness to hit the open field along with good leg drive to finish runs.

With Chip Kelly in his first season at offensive coordinator with Ohio State, there is already a lot of excitement amongst Buckeye nation for the rushing attack next season headed by the star-studded duo.

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Ohio State football player appears on ‘College Football 25’ cover

Look who makes an appearance on the cover of ‘College Football 25.’ #GoBucks

Every day that passes, the anticipation grows for the new “College Football 25” video game that is scheduled to be released this summer. On Friday the cover was finally released thanks to the PlayStation Store. The cover features three active players prominently and a number of other players in the background. One of the background players is a current Ohio State player, Quinshon Judkins.

The cover of this newest game from EA Sports is interesting for a few reasons. The first is Michigan running back Donovan Edwards is featured prominently in the middle. Even Michigan fans are confused by this choice.

The second is Quinn Ewers, who currently slings the rock at Texas, made the cover, which is rightfully so given he is a star. However, as most Buckeye fans are aware, Ewers was once enrolled at Ohio State.

The third point for any Buckeye fan is Quinshon Judkins is the first Ohio State football player to grace the cover of a college football video game. It is ironic considering he has never taken a snap for the Buckeyes.

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