The Cleveland Browns are already in a hole after dropping last week’s opener to the Cincinnati Bengals. While many are quick to blame kicker Andre Szmyt for leaving four points on the table in a 17-16 loss, another scapegoat is the team’s running game, which managed just 37 yards between Dylan Sampson and Jerome Ford.
Sampson could get some benefit of the doubt as a rookie out of Tennessee. But Ford was immediately placed on thin ice after gaining eight yards on six carries. The news got worse when second-round pick Quinshon Judkins signed his rookie contract earlier this week and could mean the veteran could officially be buried when Judkins is expected to make his NFL debut against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Quinshon Judkins’s Debut Will Leave Browns Veteran RB Jerome Ford in the Dust
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Judkins will make his debut against Baltimore after being listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report on Friday afternoon. Judkins was the team’s second-round pick during April’s draft but was sidelined throughout training camp after he was initially charged with misdemeanor domestic violence and battery after an incident in Florida last July.
Those charges have been dropped, and Judkins agreed to a fully guaranteed, four-year, $11.4 million contract with the Browns on Sept. 6. While the NFL is still investigating Judkins for potential violations of the league’s personal conduct policy, Judkins is free to play in the short term with a chance to breathe life into Cleveland’s ground game.
Judkins was a workhorse throughout his collegiate career, logging 739 carries between his stops at Ole Miss and Ohio State. A workload like that usually means a player is a threat with the ball in his hands, and Judkins was no exception, posting 3,785 yards and 45 touchdowns on the ground and adding 59 catches for 442 yards and five touchdowns over three seasons.
That production makes it obvious why the Browns would want to get Judkins involved as soon as possible, and it could come at the expense of Ford.
Ford had one of the best seasons of his career in terms of efficiency in 2024, posting a career high in yards per carry (5.4) and success rate (47.1%), which Pro Football Reference defines as the frequency a ball carrier gets 50% of yards needed on first down, 70% on second down and 100% on third and fourth down. But neither of those qualities showed up on Sunday as he had a success rate of 16.7% to go with an average of 1.3 yards per carry.
While Sampson also struggled, Ford figures to be the odd man out when Judkins makes his long-awaited debut. Judkins has already cost one Browns running back his job before his debut, and Ford could be the next to be phased out as the Browns try to avoid going 0-2 on the season.