Matt Tamanini
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Quinshon Judkins has the chance to help Ohio State rewrite history
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
As part of a highly publicized transfer class, the running back is looking to take less of the load.
Every day from now until the start of the season, Land-Grant Holy Land is highlighting Ohio State football players that you should be watching this season. Check out all of our ”Player to Watch” articles to get ready for the season opener against Akron.
Throughout the early part of the offseason, there was a lot of talk around college football circles about how Ohio State was ”buying players” because they couldn’t win with the guys they recruited. People were throwing out ridiculous sums of money about how much the Buckeyes spent to amass a new super team. Ryan Day had looked at his team, saw they sucked, and went out and got all new players.
Just to be clear, it was all bullshit.
Ohio State did add a few players via the transfer portal, but it wasn’t a completely new roster, it was seven (7). Seven whole players joined the Buckeyes in the offseason. You know how many teams brought in more players than Ohio State via the transfer portal this offseason? Damn near everybody.
The only Big Ten schools with fewer transfers additions were Iowa (4), Rutgers (6), and (Nebraska). So what other blue blood, national powers had larger transfer portal classes? Oh, I’m so glad you asked:
Colorado: 42 (ok, not a national power, per se, but they did have the most nationally, so I guess a national power at player turnover.
Texas A&M: 28
Washington: 28
Ole Miss: 24
TCU: 24
South Carolina: 22
Florida State: 17
USC: 19
Oklahoma: 16
Alabama: 15
Florida: 15
Miami: 15
Oregon: 14
Texas: 11
Georgia: 11
LSU: 10
Tennessee: 9
Notre Dame: 9
Admittedly, I might have stretched the definition of “blue blood” and “national powers” for this list, but I think it gives some necessary context to this absurd narrative that some idiots in college football circles have coming into this season, as well as what I’m going to say next.
Ohio State’s 2024 transfer portal class is the most consequential turning point in the history of program. Yes, I know that is likely insanely hyperbolic, but hear me out. The Buckeyes added three of the top nine players in the portal this offseason, safety Caleb Downs (No. 1), quarterback Julian Sayin (No. 6), and running back Quinshon Judkins (No. 9).
When you factor in QB Will Howard (No. 41), center Seth McLaughlin (No. 111), and tight end Will Kacmarek (No. 201), that’s a pretty solid haul. The seventh player in the class is third-year safety Keenan Nelson Jr. who came from South Carolina, but was the No. 951 player in the transfer portal, so it’s tough to expect much from him in the immediate future.
Similarly, Sayin won’t play any snaps of consequence this year, but the other guys are all going to major parts of what has the making of a historic year in the history of the Ohio State program. And, if things go the way that I think that they can, and should, go this year, I believe that it will be a turning point for the Buckeyes.
Day has always hued toward being a bit conservative when it came to roster construction; a nice guy, who cares about everybody’s feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I think that is an absolute strength when it comes to coaching young people, and I think it ultimately helps his team and his program. But in today’s college football, you need a bit of ruthlessness to cease opportunities when they present themselves. He did that this year.
So, if OSU goes on to win a national title with significant contributions from five or six of these new Buckeyes (and Julian Sayin is the starter in a year or two who leads the team to another championship), the offseason maneuvering that Day and his staff orchestrated will likely be looked back upon as a defining moment in the long and storied history of Ohio State football.
Now, after that soap-box preamble, this is ostensibly a Player to Watch article. So, I’m going to focus on one of these new Buckeyes: Former Ole Miss Running Rebel, former SEC Freshman of the Year, former two-time All-SEC First-Team running back, Quinshon Judkins.
The Buckeyes already have a top-flight, Heisman-caliber running back in TreVeyon Henderson, but throughout his career, he has been frustratingly injury prone. And when it wasn’t clear whether or not he would return for another season in Columbus, or if he would try his hand at the NFL, Day saw the best back in the portal and brought him in.
The third-year player comes to Columbus already having amassed 2,725 rushing yards in his career to go along with 34 total touchdowns. At 6-foot, 219 pounds, Judkins is a solid mix of speed and power, and anyone who has played as the Buckeyes in “EA College Football 25” knows how elusive he can be (at least in digital form).
The one knock that you could potentially make against Judkins is that through two years, he has been a volume guy. He carried the ball 274 times as a freshman and 271 as a sophomore, and it seemed to wear on him. In 2022, he averaged 5.7 yards per carry, but last year, that dropped to 4.3. While Henderson rushing totals have been down since his 1,248 yards as a freshman in 2021 due to injuries, his yards per carry have remained solid: an insane 6.8 in 2021, then 5.3 in 2022, and 5.9 in 2023.
The fact remains that while both backs felt they had something to prove in the 2024 season — Judkins leaving Oxford and Henderson returning for a fourth season — they will both be better because they don’t have to do it alone. Judkins will have the opportunity to play in high-profile situations without having to carry the ball 20 times per game, and Henderson will hopefully be able to minimize his injury risk so that both guys are as healthy as can be come postseason.
With Chip Kelly now running the offense for the Buckeyes, it will be interesting to see how he uses these two guys. While OSU fans have called for it in the past, there is a legitimate opportunity this season to see two-back sets, which would make having the best running back duo in college football even more dangerous.
It’s been a weird offseason, full of incredible highs, not very many lows, bizarre takes from fans and members alike, and tons of sky-high expectations. But, I firmly believe that Quinshon Judkins has the opportunity to help redirect the entire future of the Ohio State football program. He won’t be expected to do it on his own, but as part of this “$30 million dollar transfer class,” a place in Buckeye history is there for the taking.
Quinshon Judkins 2023 Highlights:
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
As part of a highly publicized transfer class, the running back is looking to take less of the load.
Every day from now until the start of the season, Land-Grant Holy Land is highlighting Ohio State football players that you should be watching this season. Check out all of our ”Player to Watch” articles to get ready for the season opener against Akron.
Throughout the early part of the offseason, there was a lot of talk around college football circles about how Ohio State was ”buying players” because they couldn’t win with the guys they recruited. People were throwing out ridiculous sums of money about how much the Buckeyes spent to amass a new super team. Ryan Day had looked at his team, saw they sucked, and went out and got all new players.
Just to be clear, it was all bullshit.
Ohio State did add a few players via the transfer portal, but it wasn’t a completely new roster, it was seven (7). Seven whole players joined the Buckeyes in the offseason. You know how many teams brought in more players than Ohio State via the transfer portal this offseason? Damn near everybody.
The only Big Ten schools with fewer transfers additions were Iowa (4), Rutgers (6), and (Nebraska). So what other blue blood, national powers had larger transfer portal classes? Oh, I’m so glad you asked:
Colorado: 42 (ok, not a national power, per se, but they did have the most nationally, so I guess a national power at player turnover.
Texas A&M: 28
Washington: 28
Ole Miss: 24
TCU: 24
South Carolina: 22
Florida State: 17
USC: 19
Oklahoma: 16
Alabama: 15
Florida: 15
Miami: 15
Oregon: 14
Texas: 11
Georgia: 11
LSU: 10
Tennessee: 9
Notre Dame: 9
Admittedly, I might have stretched the definition of “blue blood” and “national powers” for this list, but I think it gives some necessary context to this absurd narrative that some idiots in college football circles have coming into this season, as well as what I’m going to say next.
Ohio State’s 2024 transfer portal class is the most consequential turning point in the history of program. Yes, I know that is likely insanely hyperbolic, but hear me out. The Buckeyes added three of the top nine players in the portal this offseason, safety Caleb Downs (No. 1), quarterback Julian Sayin (No. 6), and running back Quinshon Judkins (No. 9).
When you factor in QB Will Howard (No. 41), center Seth McLaughlin (No. 111), and tight end Will Kacmarek (No. 201), that’s a pretty solid haul. The seventh player in the class is third-year safety Keenan Nelson Jr. who came from South Carolina, but was the No. 951 player in the transfer portal, so it’s tough to expect much from him in the immediate future.
Similarly, Sayin won’t play any snaps of consequence this year, but the other guys are all going to major parts of what has the making of a historic year in the history of the Ohio State program. And, if things go the way that I think that they can, and should, go this year, I believe that it will be a turning point for the Buckeyes.
Day has always hued toward being a bit conservative when it came to roster construction; a nice guy, who cares about everybody’s feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I think that is an absolute strength when it comes to coaching young people, and I think it ultimately helps his team and his program. But in today’s college football, you need a bit of ruthlessness to cease opportunities when they present themselves. He did that this year.
So, if OSU goes on to win a national title with significant contributions from five or six of these new Buckeyes (and Julian Sayin is the starter in a year or two who leads the team to another championship), the offseason maneuvering that Day and his staff orchestrated will likely be looked back upon as a defining moment in the long and storied history of Ohio State football.
Now, after that soap-box preamble, this is ostensibly a Player to Watch article. So, I’m going to focus on one of these new Buckeyes: Former Ole Miss Running Rebel, former SEC Freshman of the Year, former two-time All-SEC First-Team running back, Quinshon Judkins.
The Buckeyes already have a top-flight, Heisman-caliber running back in TreVeyon Henderson, but throughout his career, he has been frustratingly injury prone. And when it wasn’t clear whether or not he would return for another season in Columbus, or if he would try his hand at the NFL, Day saw the best back in the portal and brought him in.
The third-year player comes to Columbus already having amassed 2,725 rushing yards in his career to go along with 34 total touchdowns. At 6-foot, 219 pounds, Judkins is a solid mix of speed and power, and anyone who has played as the Buckeyes in “EA College Football 25” knows how elusive he can be (at least in digital form).
The one knock that you could potentially make against Judkins is that through two years, he has been a volume guy. He carried the ball 274 times as a freshman and 271 as a sophomore, and it seemed to wear on him. In 2022, he averaged 5.7 yards per carry, but last year, that dropped to 4.3. While Henderson rushing totals have been down since his 1,248 yards as a freshman in 2021 due to injuries, his yards per carry have remained solid: an insane 6.8 in 2021, then 5.3 in 2022, and 5.9 in 2023.
The fact remains that while both backs felt they had something to prove in the 2024 season — Judkins leaving Oxford and Henderson returning for a fourth season — they will both be better because they don’t have to do it alone. Judkins will have the opportunity to play in high-profile situations without having to carry the ball 20 times per game, and Henderson will hopefully be able to minimize his injury risk so that both guys are as healthy as can be come postseason.
With Chip Kelly now running the offense for the Buckeyes, it will be interesting to see how he uses these two guys. While OSU fans have called for it in the past, there is a legitimate opportunity this season to see two-back sets, which would make having the best running back duo in college football even more dangerous.
It’s been a weird offseason, full of incredible highs, not very many lows, bizarre takes from fans and members alike, and tons of sky-high expectations. But, I firmly believe that Quinshon Judkins has the opportunity to help redirect the entire future of the Ohio State football program. He won’t be expected to do it on his own, but as part of this “$30 million dollar transfer class,” a place in Buckeye history is there for the taking.
Quinshon Judkins 2023 Highlights:
Continue reading...