The Cleveland Browns drafted former Ohio State Buckeye Quinshon Judkins as their RB1 of the future. Unfortunately, his NFL tenure got off to a rocky start, as the now-dismissed domestic abuse allegations delayed his signing with the team.
With Judkins’ debut set for this week against the Baltimore Ravens, what can fantasy football managers expect?
Is Quinshon Judkins Playing Week 1?
Judkins is not out of the woods yet in terms of playing the entire season. He met with the NFL earlier this week and could still be subject to discipline. However, nothing is imminent, and the rookie second-rounder practiced for the first time all season on Thursday.
After another practice on Friday, Judkins drew a “questionable” marking, but he is going to play, making his NFL debut against Baltimore.
Last week, the Browns rolled out a backfield of Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson. The veteran recorded a dismal six carries for eight yards, while the rookie was equally ineffective on the ground but excelled through the air, hauling in all eight of his targets for 64 yards.
In Week 2, fantasy managers absolutely cannot start Judkins. He’s barely been with the team. It’s impossible to expect any sort of significant workload that would justify a spot in fantasy lineups. But it’s coming.
Dylan Sampson and Quinshon Judkins is a 1-2 punch for years to come. pic.twitter.com/lDHvQ6Imem
— Elite Drafters (@Elite_Drafters) September 13, 2025
Expect the Browns’ backfield to feature Judkins as the primary runner. He should handle early down work and goal-line opportunities. Meanwhile, Sampson has already proven to be an effective receiver. He should be the satellite back. However, it is possible that Ford and his superior pass-blocking skills end up in that role.
Regardless of what happens in Week 2, though, fantasy managers who gambled on Judkins should be feeling really good about their decision.
Judkins’ Fantasy Football Outlook
The fact that all charges against Judkins were dropped this summer gives us a level of clarity that didn’t seem likely, but his early-season outlook remains cloudy at best, given the amount of missed practice time and the general projected ineptitude of this offense.
This could turn into an imperfect storm, with Judkins brought up to speed by the time a quarterback change occurs.
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I’m not optimistic that this season will go well, but there’s a clear path to volume on a team that will likely prefer to run the ball, so this situation has to have our interest. Judkins cleared 1,200 yards and scored at least 16 times in all three of his collegiate seasons, and that pedigree is what required the Browns to spend a second-round pick on him.
That said, they’ve gotten a whole camp of Sampson and are comfortable with Ford. This profiles as a wide-open committee situation, thus making it a rather easy fade for now. The understanding is that rostering any of these backs is more of an October play, and that that might be on the optimistic side of things, even with his NFL debut coming today.
— Kyle Soppe, PFSN Fantasy Analyst