Ole Miss Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins informed Ole Miss staff he would be entering the transfer portal Thursday.
— Quinshon Judkins (@qaj4_) January 4, 2024
NIL insider and founder of On3, Shannon Terry, suspects he is asking for two to three times his $535k NIL valuation.
Judkins has an On3 NIL Valuation of $535k. I suspect he is asking for 2-3x his value. Even in this climate, hard to see a RB command a $1M deal. Decisions for all involved. https://t.co/EakxKU6uh4
— Shannon Terry (@ShannonTerry) January 4, 2024
Judkins was the main back for the Rebels this year, and he was a productive one at that. He had 34 touchdowns on over 3,000 yards from scrimmage in his first two years, so it would be unlikely that he is transferring due to a playing time issue.
All the key offensive players for the Rebels are returning for Ole Miss next year, with the exception of Judkins. Head coach Lane Kiffin has spearheaded the second best transfer portal recruitment cycle this season, according to 247 Sports.
Ole Miss is projected to be a preseason top-five team going into next year. The Ole Miss NIL collective even retweeted a tweet saying “don’t overpay for an rb.”
The head of Ole Miss’ NIL collective just RT’d a post from an Ole Miss reporter saying “Do not overpay for a RB”
See AlsoRebelGrove - How Quinshon Judkins' history shaped his immediate SEC success with RebelsQuinshon Judkins transfer: What to know about Ole Miss star running back entering portalQuinshon Judkins in transfer portal: Logical destinations for Ole Miss RB with Alabama, Michigan among optionsQuinshon Judkins enters transfer portal: Productive Ole Miss RB was twice named first-team All-SECLooks like Quinshon Judkins will be playing for a new program in 2024. pic.twitter.com/jGjfT8ueX6
— Spark College Football (@SparkCFB) January 4, 2024
Ole Miss rebels running back Quinshon Judkins had a chance to solidify his spot as the best RB in Ole Miss history before NIL debacle
Judkins was the first player to score 15 or more touchdowns in their first two seasons in the SEC since Georgia Bulldog legend Herschel Walker.
Judkins’ competition at the RB position were former Ole Miss running backs Deuce McAllister, Dexter McCluster and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.
Judkins was already third all-time in Ole Miss history with 2,725 yards rushing, and he was just 336 yards away from passing McAllister for the No. 1 spot. He needed just seven touchdowns to tie McAllister’s 41 total touchdowns as a Rebel.
Judkins needed just under 700 yards from scrimmage to be Ole Miss’ all-time leader, which includes a player like McCluster who was an RB/WR gadget player.
Considering Judkins has only been a part of the Rebels for two years his statistics give him a legitimate case to already be considered the best to ever do it at Ole Miss. It took McAllister from 1997-2000 to accomplish slightly more than what Judkins has done from 2022-2023.
Ole Miss Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins’ talent was on full display during the last half of the season, possibly to beef up his NIL valuation
Judkins had six games in which he eclipsed the century mark on the ground this year. Five of those six performances came in the last seven games, including a 106 yard effort in the Peach bowl against one of the nation’s top defenses in Penn State.
Quinshon Judkins is now in the portal..
pic.twitter.com/BMcuyjuEDU— Menace 2 Sports (@Menace2Sports) January 4, 2024
Out of the four games in which Judkins scored multiple touchdowns on the ground, three of them came in the latter half of the season.
Ole Miss and college football fans alike are puzzled by this decision, especially when Judkins decided to play in the bowl game. Most players that decided to transfer did so before participating in their teams bowl game.
Ole Miss returned almost everyone, brought in very good transfers…
And now Judkins is in the portal…
This was unexpected pic.twitter.com/uhX82hYC3Z
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) January 4, 2024
Quin’Shon Judkins entering the portal after watching Ole Miss drop a bag everywhere else all offseason is…
Interesting.
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) January 4, 2024
Judkins is a significant loss for Ole Miss (assuming he doesn’t take his name out of the portal). No other way to spin it.
There’s a point where the asking price gets too high. Wonder if that’s what’s happening here.
— Michael Borkey (@MichaelBorkey) January 4, 2024
What is going on at Ole Miss?????
Q Judkins entering the PORTAL ?!?!?!
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) January 4, 2024
The decision is considered even more puzzling due to how Kiffin’s offense was designed to help Judkins. The fast-paced offense used Judkins at an extremely high rate, giving him an opportunity to rack up numbers. In an article from Sports Illustrated, Judkins professed his adoration for the offense before the season began.
“I believe in my offense (and) I believe in my coaches,” Judkins said. “Me just being level-headed with the same poise, not getting frustrated, knowing it’ll come. Just keep working, keep grinding and fixing everything that we can to get the run game going because that’s what our offense is based off of.”
Judkins saw success this year despite the fact that all the teams they were playing knew they were going to give it to Judkins early and often.
“Everyone is focusing on the run game because that’s how we were successful last year,” Judkins said, “so as an offense and a team we need to figure out a way to beat it.”
While Judkins told staff he would be leaving, he has not officially entered the portal just yet. Regardless of his future decision, some college football team will have one of the best RBs in the sport.
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