Greg McElroy predicts a 2,000-yard season from Quinshon Judkins

In 2022, Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins burst onto the scene, becoming one of the best running backs in the SEC as a freshman. For an encore, college football analyst Greg McElroy thinks he could have an all time great season and rush for more than 2,000 yards.

During an appearance on SEC Now ahead of SEC media days, McElroy explained why he thinks that’s possible.

“He was a freshman last year and he took the world by storm,” McElroy said. “Now everybody is like, ‘Hey, you know who we got to stop? This guy right here, standing at running back for the Rebels.’”

As McElroy explained, an improved passing game is going to force defenses to respect that more and keep them from loading up the box. This should create gaps ad help him take the leap to 2,000 yards on the ground.

“Now, I’m genuinely curious to see how much that offense is going to improve from a passing standpoint. He was a one-man show last year. But guess what? I’m very convinced, whether it’s Spencer Sanders or Jaxson Dart — I think it’ll be Jaxson Dart — that the passing attack is going to improve drastically. Now that you can complement Quinshon Judkins’ run game with the passing attack that Ole Miss is likely to have, this is going to sound crazy, (but) I think 2,000 yards by Quinshon Judkins is within reach.”

Last season, Judkins rushed for 1,567 yards on 274 carries and had 16 rushing touchdowns. He also snagged 15 passes for 132 yards and another score. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him improve on a fantastic season. Still, 2,000 yards will be difficult to reach.

In the history of college football, 35 players have run for 2,000 yards or more in a season. Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State ran for 2,628 yards in 1988, which was the most ever in a single season.

How Quinshon Judkins exceeded expectations as a freshman

One thing is abundantly clear about Quinshon Judkins, he exceeded expectations as a freshman. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, On3’s Charles Power explained why that happened.

“Quinshon Judkins was phenomenal. I think he was the breakout star of the SEC last year, at least on offense. He was our Offensive True Freshman of the Year last year. And you think about, going into the season, everybody was talking about Zach Evans, the TCU transfer and former five-star. Quinshon Judkins outplayed Zach Evans last year. It seemed like he had 150 yards every week,” Power said.

“(He’s) a guy who was not as heralded but he was a top target for Lane Kiffin. They got him out of Alabama and he was phenomenal last year. A guy that forces a ton of missed tackles. He’s not going to blow you away from a size or speed perspective. But very instinctive, maximizes yardage, and really kept Ole Miss’ offense churning last year in games that they needed to win.”