Quinshon Judkins named SEC Newcomer of the Year

Dec 5, 2022 - 8:00 PM

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Maybe there’s a reason Lane Kiffin sat, alone, on a cold bleacher on a Friday night in Alabama a year ago. The player he was watching that day, Quinshon Judkins, just set the Ole Miss single season rushing record and was named first team all-SEC.

Not bad for a freshman. And a three-star at that.

Judkins also recently ended any angst from Ole miss fans by signing an NIL deal with the Grove Collective as well. The Rebels will have him for another two seasons before he wisely goes to the NFL. Those two seasons could be pretty special, particularly now that Judkins will have a reputation. If Ole Miss is able to improve its team this offseason, Judkins enters next year as a darkhorse for the Heisman trophy.

I’m not being crazy. It’s easy to lose sight of the magnificence of what Judkins has done in his first season in Oxford. Let’s put this in perspective a bit. This isn’t just a pretty good season.

Quinshon Judkins is now 18th on Ole Miss’ career rushing yards list with 1,476 yards.... and has played one season. He’s fifteenth for career rushing touchdowns (16). Among players with 250 or more rushing attempts, he is fourth all-time in yards per carry at 5.9. What Judkins has done is absolutely astonishing, and his season isn’t even over yet.

The record for 100-yard games in a career is Deuce McAllister with 14. Judkins has eight so far this season, which ties him for eighth all-time. I know it’s crazy to continue talking about Judkins in terms of his career, given how short it has been so far, but to do otherwise is an exercise in futility because of how much his single season surpassed every reasonable metric at Ole Miss in the modern era.

I’ve seen and heard people seeming to contend that whatever Quinshon Judkins is being paid in NIL money is too much. I..... I can’t express enough how preposterous that idea is. This guy deserves tons and tons of money for the notoriety he has brought to the program and university. Imagine how this season would have gone without him.