Jaxson Dart says Quinshon Judkins' development is 'huge'
In 2022, running back Quinshon Judkins was a revelation for the Ole Miss offense. Now, quarterback Jaxson Dart says that he’s improving and should be even better in 2023.
As Dart explained, Judkins has worked extensively on rounding out his all-around game as a running back this offseason.
“Yeah, it’s huge,” Jaxson Dart said. “He’s two-dimensional, three-dimensional. He’s a great blocker, he’s obviously great in the run game, and can catch the ball from the backfield. I feel like that’s been something that he needed to improve on from last year.”
In particular, Dart says that Judkins has been improving a lot in the passing game. Now, by improving on those details, he’s going to be that much better for Ole Miss.
“Just little things like where’s your landmarks on check downs, make sure you’re getting your width, and he’s been great at it this spring. And it’s huge to see that from him, especially because he’s so young, and with how talented and how good he is already, I think that’s going to be something that brings his game to a whole nother level”
Still, Quinshon Judkins is far from perfect and head coach Lane Kiffin knows that there is still room for him to improve this year.
“You’ve got to remember, he was a true freshman. It’s pretty amazing what he can do. It’s up there as one of the best freshman years in the country. It’s amazing to do and now he can take the next step, which we see,” Kiffin said.
“We run different plays with him now than we did. When guys are freshmen, you’re just trying to get them to line up and play. Now you have a chance to truly have a spring where he knows stuff and can go to the next level.”
Kiffin even went on to compare Quinshon Judkins to Reggie Bush, who he coached at USC.
“I always think of players we’ve coached before and I feel like Reggie Bush was that ‒ he had a good freshman year and then [in his second year] you could do all this other stuff with him.”
Jaxson Dart on his confidence in the Ole Miss offense
After the spring game, Jaxson Dart broke down his confidence in the Ole Miss offense as a whole.
“I think sometimes it’s hard going through spring when you get into injuries and stuff like that. We have some key pieces that couldn’t play today because they were hurt,” Dart said.
“But I feel like a lot of guys stepped up and played big roles this spring and have had a lot of guys get better in just a short time. So it’s fun to see them progress and watch our offense flourish at times. It’s really exciting.”