NFL Draft
1/11/25
7 min read
Quinshon Judkins 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Ohio State Buckeyes RB
Height: 6000 (unofficial)
Weight: 219 (unofficial)
Year: Junior
Pro Comparison: Knowshon Moreno
Scouting Overview
Ohio State Buckeyes running back Quinshon Judkins projects as an impact starter at the NFL level. Judkins boasts quick feet, a dense frame, good processing speed, and enough open-field juice to create chunk runs as a primary ball carrier.
Judkins successfully assimilated into two separate college offenses between Ole Miss and Ohio State, showcasing the needed versatility in his execution of run concepts to offer confidence that this is a scheme of transcendent talent. Judkins offers some value plus upside in the passing game as well; he’s diverse enough as a player to contribute on all three downs.
While Judkins’ production is down in 2024 amid a timeshare with TreVeyon Henderson, his film remains consistent. He would be a fine addition to any running back stable and should be considered a viable NFL starter from the start.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Contact balance to play through contact and generate added yardage on his runs
- Light on his feet to bounce and cut through developing creases; does well to break to daylight off his initial zone tracks
- Impressive ball security track record with three career fumbles on nearly 800 career touches
Negatives
- Short-area twitch and explosiveness are much more impressive than his second gear in the open field
- Can be selective with urgency on runs; would benefit from consistent assertiveness pressing the LOS
- Has room for growth in consistent pass protection, especially relative to his stature
Background
Judkins is from Pike Road, AL, and played his high school football at Pike Road HS. There, he was a consensus 3-star recruit who earned Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-State honors in 2020. Judkins posted 51 touchdowns across his final two seasons of play at Pike Road and eclipsed more than 3,000 rushing yards in those two seasons as well. He chose Ole Miss over notable power programs such as Notre Dame, Florida, Miami, Michigan, Penn State, and others.
Upon arrival at Ole Miss, Judkins immediately declared himself as an impact name. He posted 1,699 all-purpose yards while leading the SEC in rushing yards and total touchdowns. He was named the CBS National Freshman of the Year, a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, Freshman All-American, First Team All-SEC, and tied the program record for fastest to 1,000 yards rushing.
His encore in 2023 saw him start all 13 games, again leading the SEC in rushing touchdowns and being named First Team All-SEC. At the end of the 2023 season, Judkins entered the transfer portal as a 4-star transfer (247 Sports) and enrolled at Ohio State.
Judkins shared the workload with incumbent back TreVeyon Henderson and was named Third-Team All-Big Ten for his efforts in helping Ohio State reach the College Football National Championship.
Tale Of The Tape
Judkins boasts an impressive blend of skills. He has burst, vision, bounce to his cuts, and pairs it all with surprising contact balance and physicality. You don’t expect a player who cuts the way that Judkins does to also be capable of absorbing body blows and running through head-up contact.
Judkins mixes it all together into a single skill set well, and as a result, there’s little off the menu for his NFL future. As a zone runner, Judkins can be swift in his decision-making out of the mesh points on outside runs and illustrated the desired reactive quickness to peel back on the outside zone looks to search for a vacant gap or cutback lane.
He produces a sudden bounce out of his first hard step to collect himself and can generate overflow as a result. Judkins is, on occasion, guilty of mashing the turbo button and trying to sweep around the outside edge regardless; these reps can go for modest gains thanks to his initial burst, but he lacks the speed to collect edges that don’t exist.
Judkins plays with good initial explosiveness, and as a result, he’ll quickly claim developing gaps when pressed to the line of scrimmage and processing a linebacker’s downhill gap declaration. He can parlay off of those decisions and burst through the adjacent crease before working his eyes upward to feel out the next scraping defender looking for a run fit and putting on a move.
He's not an easy ball carrier to wrangle down to the ground, and Judkins shows wiggle to force poor tackle challenges on his frame. If you catch him flush and wrap him up, he is someone who you can wrap and mitigate added yardage. These instances come in tight spaces, and if you give him a sliver of air, he will test your tackle discipline.
There’s enough open-field ability here to consistently break out into the back seven and gouge opposing teams. Judkins successfully hits home runs by carrying his full momentum through the first level and has enough juice to stride out foot races — although he’s not an easy gas blazer in the open field that is going to burn the doors off everyone.
In the passing game, Jukdins showcases a soft set of hands and easy catching ability as a checkdown option underneath. The vast majority of these opportunities come within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage as a safety outlet, but he’s got little issue with setting up overtop of the ball or swinging out wide and hauling in a pass before getting his eyes north and locating a rallying zone defender.
His work in pass protection is admirable but offers room for growth and more consistency. Judkins can be late in sorting multiple pressure players from depth and, as a result, be out of position to frame an interior gap or get enough width to collect pressure on the edge and maintain the width of the pocket.
Judkins is prone to cut blocks in protection inside but does well to catch a full thigh on his effort; he’s sent a number of linebackers head over heels in the middle. He brings good aggressiveness but will, at times, lunge into contact and be deconstructed or whiff when trying to deliver a jarring blow with his frame — he can be better with his punch placement and balance to trust his strength to catch the momentum of a rusher.
Overall, Judkins is a multiple scheme runner with the physicality and explosiveness to get opportunities in any game situation. He can still grow in the ancillary elements of the position, but he’s done well as both a featured talent and in a timeshare across his three years in college. Expect more of the same in the pros.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Judkins is a scheme-transcendent player. He boasts the foot quickness and processing ability to be an impactful starter in zone schemes but also affords the contact balance and toughness to serve as a between-the-tackles gap scheme runner.
His ability to contribute on passing downs is solid, with even more room for growth; he should be considered a primary ball carrier to start at Ohio State with the opportunity to develop into a featured back.
Grade: 80.50/100.00, Late First/Early Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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