Quinshon Judkins NFL Draft 2025 profile: Full scouting report, pro comparison, future outlook and more

Quinshon Judkins‘ first love wasn’t football, nor baseball, nor any other sport he played when he was a kid. Judkins, born the day of Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam in Columbus, Ohio, in 2023, was a skateboarding fiend. His mother Teva told SEC Network that her only son “turned (our garage) into a little skateboard shop” and that he’d ride all the time at the skateboard park in Montgomery, Alabama, with his cousin.

Little did he know then that the lessons he learned while skateboarding — balance, cutting and never giving up, according to Judkins — would benefit him greatly as a football player. Judkins played youth football and baseball but eventually veered toward football when opportunities to play a big role at Pike Road High School came about. A fixture in the Patriots’ offense for his last three years, Judkins scored 67 rushing touchdowns and four receiving touchdowns in 33 games with three consecutive 1,100-yard seasons. 

He delightfully began receiving offers as a junior in 2020 — the first of which came from his home-state Auburn Tigers — with many high-profile offers following. Notable coaches he was recruited by include Tommy Rees (current Browns offensive coordinator), Tashard Choice (current Lions RB coach) and Jim Harbaugh (current Chargers head coach).

By September of 2021, Judkins was locked into playing for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Not long after, Judkins led Pike Road to a Class 5A state championship and was the title game’s MVP, even running for a 43-yard score right in front of Kiffin.

At Ole Miss, Judkins started as a true freshman in 2022 and racked up 1,567 rush tards and 16 touchdowns playing alongside fellow 2025 prospect Jaxson Dart. But after a splashy sophomore year, Judkins claimed his focus was on winning a national championship and chose to enter the transfer portal where another interesting coach was waiting for him: current Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. 

The two went to — surprise! — Columbus, Ohio, together for the 2024 season. And while Judkins didn’t dominate snaps (he embraced sharing reps with teammate TreVeyon Henderson), he did have another spectacular year and accomplished his goal of winning the title with the Buckeyes, scoring twice in the College Football Playoff national championship.

In each of three college seasons, Judkins achieved over 1,000 rush yards and totaled at least 16 touchdowns. Any player with a lucrative track record of scoring and winning will draw attention, and Judkins has done exactly that. 

Quinshon Judkins NFL Draft profile

• Age as of Week 1: 21 years old (22 in October)
• Height: 5-11 ⅝
• Weight: 221 pounds
• Hand size: 9 ¼
• Comparable body-type to: Fred Taylor

CBS prospect ranking

Position: No. 4 RB | Overall: No. 94

Consensus big board ranking (via NFL Mock Draft Database): No. 53 overall (No. 4 RB)

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NFL comparison: Stouter Joe Mixon

Judkins is probably a stouter version of Joe Mixon, but still a back with the tenacity and explosiveness that Mixon had coming out of college (and still had in 2024). Where Judkins might not quite reach the same level as Mixon is in terms of workload, including in the receiving game. Judkins did a lot of work at Ole Miss but split with TreVeyon Henderson this past year at Ohio State. And Judkins’ contributions in the passing game might not quite be as good as Mixon’s, though it’s not like Mixon is a polished route runner, either; just a guy who has made some big plays on short throws. The potential is absolutely there for Judkins to be as productive and effective, keeping in mind that Mixon rarely puts up big runs — just 16 career carries of 30-plus yards. 

Quinshon Judkins scouting report

Accolades

• 2024: Tied-most rush touchdowns (six) in a single College Football Playoff
• 2022-24: Eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in each of the past three seasons (two at Ole Miss and one at Ohio State)
• 2022-24: Third-most rushing yards (3,783) in FBS over past three seasons
• 2022 (at Ole Miss): SEC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-SEC after setting school records for rushing yards (1,567) and rushing touchdowns (16)

Strengths

• Good-sized running back with tree-trunk legs. Built to play the position.
• Consistently followed his blocks and benefitted from the strong blocking from his offensive line. Often used patience post-hand-off to let his blockers do their thing, including pressing the line so as to not tip defenders off on where he’s going.
• Good vision with the added benefit of recognizing and diagnosing second-level defenders as part of his rushing plan from play to play.
• Didn’t rely on jukes all the time but when he did he was very effective. Examples of quick, instinctive cuts go deep into his film, dating as far back as 2022 when he famously juked Brian Branch out of his cleats while at Ole Miss in 2022. Frequently showed excellent burst when he would plant and go. It would be wise for anyone to ask for more of this from Judkins.

• Rapidly got to his top speed with very good acceleration after just a few steps — a true differentiator.
• Good functional speed in line with what you’d expect from a guy who runs a 4.48-second 40-yard dash. Seemed to especially dial up a gear when he saw lots of green space in front of him, though sustaining that speed was an issue.
• Judkins spun, wiggled and slid out of tackles remarkably well to pick up chunks of extra yardage because of his excellent balance and a low center of gravity. Would shed or avoid tacklers and stay on his feet. This will absolutely be a factor that helps him win.
• Physical to a fault — you could tell he wanted to be the one inflicting the damage on runs. Physical defenders would sometimes slow him down, but he’d regularly fight and fall forward for maximum gain.

• Good, reliable hands to snag passes away from his body. Judkins was credited with three drops over 69 targets over three seasons, and just one drop last year on 26 targets.
• Didn’t miss a single game in college. He played through a significant rib injury early on in 2023, and didn’t miss any time after having a minor hand procedure in 2024. He did miss as many as three games in three of his four high school seasons, including a hamstring strain in 2021. 

Concerns

• As mentioned earlier, Judkins was a capable juker but didn’t make cuts consistently. Perhaps he can be taught to better utilize his quick feet and become a strong asset in zone-blocking run games.
• Fast, but got caught from behind. Judkins had only had 34 runs of 20-to-29 yards and 15 runs of 30-plus yards over 728 career carries. He was chased down multiple times over three seasons, including by older defensive backs now playing in the NFL who ran 4.45 seconds and worse at the NFL Scouting Combine. Case in point: TreVeyon Henderson averaged 7.1 yards per rush with an 18.8% explosive rush rate, while Judkins averaged 5.5 yards per rush with a 12.9% explosive rush rate (and they played behind the same O-line). If a team can figure out how to keep Judkins’ speed from waning at the end of his runs, they’ll have found themselves a tremendous gamebreaker.
• Preferred power over agility, frequently running to contact and not juking as often as he could have when faced with a defender. Not that he struggled with contact, but saving his body would naturally extend his career.
• Still a work in progress in terms of routes. Most of his routes were screens, flares and short hitches and out routes in the middle of the field. He can catch and make plays after the catch, but Judkins isn’t the threat through the air that other running backs in the class are.
• Below-average technique and diagnosis of blocking, which led to him rarely working long third downs with the Buckeyes last year. 

Bottom line

Judkins is more than capable of working as a “1A” back in either zone or gap schemes as a strong and well-balanced runner. There’s room for development as far as receiving goes, and he should be encouraged to use his agility more often, but his overall speed, while competitive, keeps him from being a dynamic breakaway gamebreaker. The hunch is that he joins a backfield with the potential to take it over within his first season and stick there for at least four years.

What other draft experts say about Quinshon Judkins

Chris Trapasso: Quinshon Judkins is a thickly built, explosive running back with the frame and toughness of a feature back. He thrives on contact balance, efficient burst and the ability to consistently finish runs forward, even if his vision and lateral agility aren’t elite traits. Judkins runs with sharp, controlled cuts and deceptive acceleration, making him a threat when he finds a crease, though he’s not a frequent home-run hitter. While not dynamic as a pass-catcher, he’s reliable enough to stay on the field in all situations. His physicality, youth and downhill efficiency give him a high floor with solid three-down potential.

Mike Renner: Quinshon Judkins played second fiddle to Tre Henderson this past fall for the Buckeyes, but that was through no fault of his own. He’s one of the best tackle-breakers in the draft class and showed at the combine he’s one of the best athletes as well.

Josh Edwards: Quinshon Judkins has great size and power to be a feature back in the NFL. He is a good pass catcher and checks the box in pass protection. There is a bit of stiffness in his running style, but if he ends up in the right system, he should be an impact performer early in his NFL career.

Quinshon Judkins college stats

Quinshon Judkins 247Sports profile

High school: Pike Road (Pike Road, Alabama)
Class: 2022
Composite Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (87)

• RB: 53 | AL: 29

Check out Quinshon Judkins’ full 247Sports profile, here.

The 2025 NFL Draft will take place from April 24 to 26 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. More draft coverage can be found at CBSSports.com, including daily mock drafts, consensus prospect rankings, biggest team needs and more.