Lane Kiffin gives honest answer on what he saw from Quinshon Judkins in high school

Lane Kiffin knew that Quinshon Judkins would be a good football player, but he had no idea he could be as good as he was, as soon as he was. And reflecting on recruiting the running back to Ole Miss, Kiffin couldn’t have expected he was going to be the best freshmen running back in the country.

When asked about his early take and hopes for Judkins as a freshman, Kiffin was his classic blunt self with reporters. He had high hopes, but the season the freshman put together was beyond his imagination.

“I think I’m real with you guys and I think most coaches would say ‘Yeah, I knew that.’ I didn’t know that. I knew he was really good. I knew he was really tough, competitive, carried the ball a ton. Put the whole team on his back. So you saw that stuff. Would I have predicted he was the top freshman in America? I wouldn’t haven’t been able to tell you that,” Kiffin said.

As a true freshman, Judkins was one of the most productive backs in the country and even outpaced teammate and former five-star recruit Zach Evans. Judkins carried the ball 274 times to Evans’ 144 carries. Judkins finished the 2022 season with 1567 rushing yards — No. 7 in the country — and 16 touchdowns.

One thing Kiffin did see in recruiting Judkins that would translate was his physical maturity. He referenced a recent hit in practice between Judkins and safety Ladarius Tennison to illustrate his point.

“His body’s like a 25-year-old. He’s just, there’s — him and Darius had a hit the other day that, any other back would’ve been kinda knocked out. And he just bounced off him and ran in and scored. He’s just really, unique mindset but unique body type and physical maturity for his age,” Kiffin said.