CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Browns needed points on Sunday agaisnt the Dolphins, they cut out the middle man and just let rookie running back Quinshon Judkins handle things.
Leading 10-3 in the second quarter with 6:55 left — thanks to a 46-yard touchdown run by Judkins a drive earlier — the rookie running back lined up at quarterback, took a direct snap and gained a yard.
Following a timeout, Judkins again took a direct snap and ran the ball into the end zone from three yards out for his second touchdown of the day.
“That was really a conversation with me, (offensive line) coach (Mike Bloomgren) and (offensive coordinator) Tommy (Rees) on Thursday night when we thought it was going to potentially be 60 mile per hour winds,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “And we talked about might be just get some single-wing football going. So, we drew up a couple plays.”
With 10:59 left in the fourth quarter, Judkins again took a direct snap and put an exclamation point on the Browns’ 31-6 victory on a 2-yard touchdown run following an interception by safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
“Something that I ran in college, so I’m familiar with it,” Judkins said. “A lot of Wildcat in Ole Miss’ offense. So when Coach Rees, (running backs) coach Duce (Staley) told me that we’ll be putting it in, I had a smile on my face. Just to go out there and like I said, do my job, execute, get a touchdown. So it’s fun.”
Judkins, who spent two seasons at Ole Miss before transferring to Ohio State in 2024, even managed to corral a snap that he bobbled on the first Wildcat touchdown.
“It was rainy outside so a little wet,” Judkins said. “Thank God I reeled it in and was able to get in the end zone.”
The Browns leaned on Judkins Sunday when the weather wasn’t cooperating and the offense was still very much a work in progress. He carried the ball 25 times for 84 yards and scored three touchdowns, the first Browns player to score three rushing touchdowns since Nick Chubb on September 18, 2022.
“I don’t really look at the personal stuff,” Judkins said. “I think this is just a good win for us as a team, something that we build on and something that next week we go out there and continue to win.”
In the first half, Judkins ran 18 times for 75 yards.
“It’s something that we worked very hard on to make sure that we got Q and our runners into the second level as much as we could because we knew they would make some yards,” Stefanski said. “So, there were some things that we blocked up really well. If you block it up well for Quinshon, he’s gonna make a lot of yards.”
It was blocked up well with 11:28 left in the second quarter. Judkins followed tight end Harold Fannin Jr. through an alley opened up by right guard Wyatt Teller and right tackle KT Leveston to the left, with tight end Blake Whiteheart blocking to the right. Fannin and left guard Joel Bitonio erased the Dolphins defender waiting in the hole and Judkins was off to the races for 46 yards and the Browns’ first touchdown of the game.
It was the Browns’ longest offensive play of the season and the first time they’ve had an offensive play over 40 yards.
Judkins has quickly ascended to one of the Browns’ most reliable weapons, a player that, even though he’s a rookie, Stefanski isn’t afraid to hitch the offense’s wagon to him.
“I think that that shows with my preparation,” he said. “I would say just building that trust with my coaches, knowing that I would do the right thing, and just going out there executing, knowing that it also put me in the best position to do that.”
It’s more impressive given that Judkins, picked by the Browns 36th overall in April’s draft, missed all of training camp after he was arrested in June on a battery/domestic violence charge. The Broward State Attorney’s office in South Florida declined to formally charge him in August.
The Browns and Judkins didn’t agree to a contract until September 6, one day before the season opener, and he made his debut on September 14 against the Ravens.
All he’s done since is carry the ball 109 times for 467 yards and five touchdowns in his first six games.
“I don’t want to tell you that training camp’s not important because I got a bunch of players that will take that,” Stefanski said. “He’s in great shape, very diligent kid. All the things that we identified with him in the pre-draft process are all true.”
Judkins’ success might just come as a result of keeping it simple.
“My job at the end of the day is to run the ball and protect the quarterback,” Judkins said. “Do everything in my power to just go out there and do my job.”
Doing his job on Sunday meant driving a Browns offense that finally found its footing on a wet, rainy day.
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