Why is Quinshon Judkins a fantasy fade?
Yahoo Fantasy's Josh Norris and Joel Smyth examine the second-year running back's role in Cleveland with questions at quarterback.
Video Transcript
Seems to be out on Quinshon Judkins, but I never really see a reason as to why.
I personally think with Todd Monken as their head coach and their OC being the run game coordinator, they could give him insane touches.
I'd love to hear the case against him.
So Joel is getting, quote, "An insane amount of touches, enough to love Quinshon Judkins this season."
For me, it is not.
And I, like anybody else that researches fantasy, like, I feel like we preach volume is everything.
Volume is king.
We want to h- hunt after that volume.
This is one of those rare cases where I'm still against it because Judkins- even though he can legit, like, I would expect Judkins to be, like, a 20 carry per game player this season.
I would not be shocked at all.
At the same time, when we look at their team, they are projected to be 32nd in scoring offense.
Their quarterback room is probably, you know, 32nd in the league, maybe 31st some would say.
Offensive line, most people have them 32nd in the NFL.
So there's a lot to overcome, and the one thing that kinda makes it really hard for me to believe in him overcoming it is a lack of a passing game role.
I think passing game role can give you floor somewhere else, where some weeks when it's not there on the ground, the Browns are getting blown out, at least he can give you four catches for 30 yards and an extra seven or five points based on what format you're playing.
But with him, I think there's gonna be a lot of games where he just has 20 carries, in between the 20s, for 70 yards- Yeah and one catch.
Yeah.
And no touchdowns.
So it's gonna be a lot similar, 'cause I love Monken and this off- like, the offense coordinator or, yeah, run game coordinator, what he had in Baltimore bringing to now the Browns.
He could be like Derrick Henry except Derrick Henry had 27 goal line attempts.
I wouldn't expect- Exactly 27 goal line attempts for the Browns as a team.
Touchdowns rule fantasy football.
It, it really is that simple.
Now, I, I do wanna say, I can't wait to draft Quinshon Judkins in 2027 when the Browns have a quarterback.
Like, to me, I thought he was the best rookie runner in the NFL last season, and he should actually be an even better runner this year after an improved offensive line after all the investments that they made.
But what I'm most nervous about is that their defense takes one, two, or three steps back.
Because the defense kept the Browns, you know this Joel, in games that they should not have been in last year, right?
Like, they kept the Bengals to 17, the Packers to 10, the Dolphins to six points, the Raiders to 10 points, the Steelers to six points, the Bengals to 18 points.
I mean, every single time you would turn on the game on Sunday, it was deep into the third quarter and the Browns were only down by, like, three or seven points.
A, a, a one-score game, even up at some points.
And you're like, "Okay, that's how Quinshon Judkins is still able to get 20, 22, 24 touches."
And I just don't think that's gonna happen this year without Myles Garrett on top of it, and without Jim Schwartz calling the defense.
So I'm, like, not out on Quinshon Judkins, I, I just kinda think he's a small win player because of the environment, right?
If he's drafted as a running back 22- Yeah which he is on Yahoo right now, then, like, maybe he scores a couple extra touchdowns than we're expecting and finishes as the running back 15.
But, like, that's just a jump in seven spots, you know?
It's not he's gonna finish as, like, the running back 12 or the running back 10 overall.
Despite his talent, which I think, like, that is a range of outcomes, I, I just don't think he can do that in Cleveland with how it's constructed this year.
