Is Quinshon Judkins set for an even bigger encore performance than his Ole Miss debut season?
Ole Miss football is wrapping up spring practice and the offseason chatter will soon begin of the Rebels prospects for how the 2023 season will go, that includes Quinshon Judkins.
One big factor into that discussion is how will running back’s sophomore season compare to the record-breaking Ole Miss debut he had in 2022.
Many people would say a sophomore slump is possible and maybe logical with teams getting film on him and his opposing Southeastern Conference know what to expect or how to defend. But another logical response would be; Quinshon is just too good to not improve this fall.
For Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin there is a lofty comparison he made on Tuesday where he sees the latter of those two schools of thought coming true for Judkins.
“Well, you have to remember, he was just a true freshman. So, that’s really amazing what he was able to do. …Now he can take the next step, which we see,” Kiffin said. “We run different plays with him than we did. When guys are freshmen, you’re just trying to get them to line up and play. And now, you truly have a chance to have a spring where now they know stuff and you can go to the next level.
“I always think of players we’ve coached before, and I feel like Reggie Bush was that. He had a good freshman year, but it was like OK, now you could do all this other stuff with him that you didn’t want to do too much right away with a running back, because then they’re not improving on their base, normal running back stuff they need to do. So, really excited about that.”
Judkins led the SEC with 1,565 rushing yards and in touchdowns with 16. His season included five straight games of at least 111 rushing yards, including two 200-plus rushing yard performances against Texas A&M and Arkansas.
Now that Judkins has a season under his belt there is an understand of what to expect at the college level.
While it seemed Judkins was getting very comfortable to the speed of the game, or even slowing the speed of the game down to his level, there are still things to adapt to.
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A breakout season like the one Kiffin is envisioning for his running back equivalent to that of Bush’s season season at Southern California will require more adapting. Bush increased his rushing production by nearly 300 yards from his freshman campaign to his sophomore season. Kiffin was an assistant coach under Pete Carroll when Bush played for the Trojans.
“There was definitely some moments that I felt comfortable (last season),” Judkins said. “Especially some of the first SEC games. Getting used to the defenses and stuff. But there’s a lot of things I left out and a lot of things I didn’t know that I can improve on this year so it can be better.”
Judkins had 274 carries last season which averages out to over 21 carries per game, including the Texas Bowl. He became the workhorse due to the injuries to running back Zach Evans and Ulysses Bently IV.
Bentley is back and healthy to start the season and freshman Kedrick Reescano will come into the fold this summer which boosts the running back room ahead of fall camp.
The prospect of becoming the go-to running back if needed to once again is something that is not much of a concern for Judkins.
“Whatever it takes to win,” Judkins said of that.
