The Cleveland Browns lost one of their best offensive weapons for the remainder of the season. Quinshon Judkins won’t be able to close out the season after fracturing his fibula and dislocating his ankle in the loss to the Buffalo Bills. That leaves the door wide open for fellow rookie running back Dylan Sampson to take on a bigger role for the final two games of the campaign.
Nevertheless, Browns analyst Pete Smith believes that Kevin Stefanski should also give Raheim Sanders a closer look:
“The kid I’ve been waiting to see on the field has been Raheim Sanders. He played the first game, used him as a short-yardage back, had a touchdown, and then Quinshon Judkins came back, and he’s been inactive since, but he did exactly what he did in college. You give him the ball, he’s going to run through people, he’s going to break some tackles, and he’s going to fight for yardage. There have been times this year where they could’ve used a Raheim Sanders to get a short-yardage pickup,” Smith said.
Judkins will be back to full strength for the beginning of training camp, and he should continue to be the team’s primary ball carrier for years to come. That being said, the Browns may have overused him, and while that didn’t lead to his injury, it might take a toll on his longevity.
That’s why this team would benefit from taking some weight off his shoulders and finding someone else to take the field every now and then. Finding a short-yardage specialist and goal-line threat would work wonders for him.
The Browns already have a promising pass-catching down in Dylan Sampson, and he should only get better with more reps. That should also help keep Judkins off the field every now and then. Of course, that’s not to say that the Browns shouldn’t rely heavily on their primary running back.
However, that position is quite taxing, and finding balance might be a wiser long-term approach to their running back situation.
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