The next step for Quinson Judkins? To become a ‘complete running back’ for Ole Miss

There have been plenty of players to have breakout seasons in their first year in college football, or during their first chance to get on the field, then be tasked with following it up with a bigger and better encore performance. This is what Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins is faced with this fall.

But how does Judkins follow up the season that was 2022?

All eyes were on Zach Evans when he made the transfer from TCU to Ole Miss last year and none were fully focused on Judkins, a freshman out of Pike Road, Alabama.

That is until all those eyes were forced to focus on him.

Fast forward 12 games and a bowl game later and Judkins is the rushing king of the Southeastern Conference and earning All-American honors his first year in the top conference of college football.

Rushing nearly 1,600 yards for 16 touchdowns is a season a lot of players would gladly sign off on in August, Judkins included.

So what is next for the sophomore who is now a marked man by SEC defenses entering the 2023 campaign?

According to Judkins it is become what he was not last season, as shocking as it may seem.

“I think in my game the next step is just showcasing that I can really do everything on the field as a running back,” Judkins said during SEC Media Days. “The complete running back. I think I’ve done that last season but I’m taking it a step further in year two with the knowledge that you have and everything else that you know. You put all those things together I think it’s going to be really good.”

Judkins became the workhorse for Ole Miss and the offense in 2022 with nearly 1,700 yards of total offense.

Along with the monster rushing numbers Judkins hauled in 15 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown.

With all of these numbers on the stat sheet it would make the untrained eye feel as if Judkins is a seasoned running back in the SEC. But the truth is he was learning as he went in a trial by fire type of atmosphere every Saturday last Fall.

A freshman season that made Judkins look like a phenom of the sport was really just a kid a year removed from high school still learning with every play.

“As a freshman you really don’t know, I would say not what your doing, but it’s things that you don’t really know and that you can better your game at,” Judkins said. “In year two when you put all those things together with pass protection, running routes, not even just out the back field but anywhere on the field and just producing.”

One thing that did not surprise Judkins was seeing the opposing SEC defense start to fill up the box with more numbers with each passing week.

Going from an empty box to seeing six or eight players in the box across from Judkins showed defenses respected what he was capable of but also acknowledging it is not getting any easier from this point forward.

“Those things they weren’t difficult for me,” Judkins said. “I expect it to happen and when those things happen it just means that you have to work harder. I believe in our coaches putting me in the best position in those eight-man, six-man boxes or whatever it is.”

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