Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins quietly put together a solid rookie season last year despite the team having the league’s worst offense by many different metrics. Heading into this offseason, there were questions about his health following a gruesome lower leg injury he suffered late in the 2025 season, which partly fueled the rumors that GM Andrew Berry wanted to draft Jeremiyah Love, but Judkins is fully healthy and primed for a big 2026 as this team’s lead back.
Despite everything working against him as a rookie, Judkins racked up 837 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games. The offensive line was beaten and battered all year and the Browns started three different quarterbacks again, which all led to Judkins facing the toughest situation of any running back in the league last season.
Dynasty Juggernaut shared some stats detailing how Judkins faced eight men in the box on over 45 percent of his carries as a rookie, which was far more than anybody in the NFL aside from Derrick Henry, who was a close second. Despite the uphill sledding, Judkins was on pace for 1,000 yards and should be in a much better position to eclipse that number in 2026 now that the offense has undergone such drastic changes.
“I decided to dig into the percentage of carries every RB faced against 8+ defenders in the box during the 2025 season. The first thing that jumped out? Quinshon Judkins. Judkins faced a stacked box on 45.2% of his carries—nearly 1 out of every 2 attempts. No other RB besides Derrick Henry was even close. Despite defenses constantly loading the box, Judkins was still on pace for a 1,000-yard rookie season. If Cleveland’s passing game can take a step forward with all of the new weapons they’ve added, Judkins could see much lighter boxes in 2026,” Dynasty Juggernaut posted.
I decided to dig into the percentage of carries every RB faced against 8+ defenders in the box during the 2025 season. 📊
The first thing that jumped out? Quinshon Judkins.
Judkins faced a stacked box on 45.2% of his carries—nearly 1 out of every 2 attempts. No other RB besides… pic.twitter.com/ReP8VVdKvh
— Dynasty Juggernaut (@DynastyJuggFF) July 8, 2026
If you asked most fans who faced the most eight-man boxes last season, Henry would be the common answer since he is a future Hall of Famer and has Lamar Jackson alongside him. Judkins is up here not only because of his own skill, but because of how unthreatening the pieces around him were last season.
All three of Cleveland’s starting QBs had completion percentages under 60 percent last season. The receivers weren’t able to consistently separate down the field and the offensive line was consistently injured, so it’s not too surprising when you look at the details why Judkins was running into brick walls all year.
This stat is a testament to how poorly constructed last year’s offense was, but it’s also telling of how strong Judkins was. He should see a lot more holes this year regardless of who the quarterback is, and it’s going to be fun to see what he does with them.
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