Quinshon Judkins And TreVeyon Henderson are two of the best running backs in the country – and they will both be in Ohio State’s backfield this season.
Judkins, who moved to the program from Ole Miss This offseason, he’s not worried about a drop in production or splitting time with Henderson. Instead, he’s focused on what he can control.
“My job is to play football and just be the best teammate I can be for my teammates and help my team overall,” Judkins said after practice Wednesday. “I don’t really focus on how many times I play or anything like that, I just come in and just do my job.”
It was with this attitude that Judkins began his first season with the Rebels.
Coming out of high school, Judkins was rated as a three-star talent and the No. 493 player in the country for the class of 2022, according to the On3 industry rankingsa proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four major recruitment media. On paper, he would not have been expected to be the instant performer he quickly became at Oxford.
Judkins was named the On3 National Offensive True Freshman of the Year and selected to the All-SEC first team after rushing for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2022. He finished with the second-best rushing season by a freshman in SEC history, behind only Herschel Walker1,549 meters at Georgia in 1980.
He then ran for 1,158 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2023, averaging 4.3 yards per run. He also had 149 receiving yards and two touchdowns. For Henderson, he ran for 926 yards and 11 touchdowns for Ohio State last season while spending time with Chip Trayanumwhich has now become Kentucky.
Now they’re together at Ohio State in the revamped Big Ten Conference. Both running backs — who were both on the preseason watch list for the 2024 Doak Walter Award — are expected to lead a Buckeyes program that finished 11-2 in 2023 after starting 11-0 last year. Ohio State will rely on Judkins and Hendserson for key assignments in 2024.
They will open the season on August 31 at Ohio Stadium against Akron before starting Big Ten games on September 28 against State of MichiganEncounters against Oregon, Nebraska, Penn Stateand of course, Michigan Loom too.
