Will Howard: TreVeyon Henderson has been the best thing for Quinshon Judkins

Ohio State feels pretty good about two transfers on the offensive side heading into the 2024 season. Will Howard and Quinshon Judkins are hoping to tear things up for the Buckeyes in what could be one-year stops in Columbus. Some fresh blood in for a program desperate to compete for and win a national championship.

Howard’s early impressions of Judkins could not be any better, calling the former Ole Miss running back “special.” The two have not even taken a snap together but Howard knows Ohio State will be in good hands when giving the ball to No. 1.

“He’s a special player,” Howard said. “You can just look at him and tell. He’s built different. He’s about as strong as they come, strong as an ox, fast as heck. He can slide.”

Judkins was the No. 6 player in the On3 Industry Transfer Portal Rankings this offseason. He was the top overall running back as well, bringing some lightning to the Ohio State offense.

The Buckeyes already had their thunder though, with TreVeyon Henderson coming back for another season. While you might think there was some competition between the two, Howard said the opposite has played out. Henderson has helped Judkins adapt to life in the program and the one-two punch seems excited to work with one another.

“I think the best thing for him has been TreVeyon,” Howard said. “I think TreVeyon has really, really helped him in his transition. I think those two have leaned on each other a lot. They haven’t been negative about it at all. They haven’t complained or said ‘I’m worried about how many carries I’m going to get.’ They’ve truly bought in. ‘We’re doing this for the Buckeyes. How many ever carries I get, how many ever carries you get, doesn’t matter.'”

Ryan Day and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly now have two of the best backs in America at their disposal. All kinds of options are going to be open in the playbook. Especially for a guy like Kelly, who loves to run the ball in creative ways.

Howard is thrilled with the different options Ohio State will have with Henderson and Judkins standing next to him.

“We’re going to have both of them out there sometimes,” Howard said. “We’re going to have neither of them out there sometimes. We can do whatever. Those guys are all in, all for it.”