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Is Quinshon Judkins Ready to Take Over? | Browns 2026 Fantasy Outlook

Quinshon Judkins Fantasy Football 2026

The good news for Cleveland Browns fans is that the team improved on its 3-14 record from the 2024 season. The bad news is that they only won two more games and still finished dead last in the division. The team struggled to score points all season. Then, after another disappointing campaign, Kevin Stefanski became the latest Browns coach casualty, as the franchise finally parted ways with him.

On a positive note, the defense looked solid. Led by Myles Garrett, who broke the single-season record with 23 sacks, the Browns allowed the 4th-fewest total yards on the season. After being the lone bright spot of another dismal year, the team immediately traded its star pass rusher to the Los Angeles Rams to kick off the Summer. Classic Browns! I will admit it was a good return to net Jared Verse, along with a set of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks.

This offseason is headlined by the least inspiring QB battle of the decade. Deshaun Watson hasn’t been fantasy relevant since the COVID year, and Shadeur Sanders threw for more than 200 yards in just two of his six starts. For that reason, I decided to pivot away from the Browns’ passing game and talk about the exciting 2nd-year RB, Quinshon Judkins. If Cleveland plans to have any semblance of a competent offense, Judkins will likely play a key role.

Quinshon Judkins Has A Lot to Overcome

Quinshon Judkins Fantasy Football 2026

Passing of the Backfield Torch

After perennial pro-bowler Nick Chubb suffered a catastrophic knee injury in 2023, he never returned to the same form. Once Cleveland decided to move on from Chubb following the 2024 season, the search was on for its new lead running back. They didn’t waste much time selecting Quinshon Judkins in the 2nd round of the 2025 draft.

Judkins’ NFL career got off to a rocky start as he faced serious domestic violence allegations, which kept him away from the team for all of training camp. The charges would eventually be dismissed, but he couldn’t sign his rookie contract until the day before Week 1 of the regular season. Judkins was inactive for the first game, then eased in with 10 carries in Week 2. From that point on, the Browns immediately gave him the lead role as he averaged over 15 carries per game from Weeks 3-15. Only 12 other RBs saw higher volume.

Despite playing for a losing team, Judkins managed some spike weeks. He saw four Top 12 finishes, including Week 4 when he scored three touchdowns (granted it was against Miami’s helpless defense). His downfall in fantasy was the lack of receiving production. Judkins saw more than four targets just once all season. In Week 16, he drew six targets but unfortunately also dislocated his right ankle and fractured his fibula after an awkward tackle. This brought an encouraging rookie campaign to an abrupt halt. His final stat line was 827 yards on 230 attempts and seven touchdowns.

The story coming into the 2026 season for Judkins is his health. He reportedly shed his walking boot ahead of schedule and was a full participant in the Browns’ OTAs. This is a major development because we’ve seen this type of injury linger for multiple seasons before. Tony Pollard is a recent example who sustained the injury late in the 2022 season. Pollard followed it up by posting a career-low 3.9 yards per carry and visibly lacking his usual explosiveness. The fact that Judkins is already a full go in camp, and three years younger than Pollard at the time of their injuries, gives reason to remain positive about his return to form.

Building up the Trenches

A major hurdle that Judkins had to overcome last season was Cleveland’s offensive line. PFF ranked the unit 31st out of 32 NFL teams last season. They dealt with injuries at every OL position throughout the season. Injuries like a torn LCL to starting left tackle Dawand Jones in Week 3 and multiple concussions to right tackle Jack Conklin, which limited his season to 7 games. Even the linemen who didn’t miss as many games fought through multiple injuries that limited them. This showed up in the advanced metrics as Judkins saw just 1.4 average yards before contact, according to Pro Football Reference. This ranked him 54th out of 55 qualified RBs (with at least 200 attempts).

Be sure to check our fantasy football preview of Quinshon Judkins and the 2026 Browns!

The Browns made major investments to improve the unit during the offseason. They signed free agents Elgton Jenkins and Zion Johnson, who had the second-best run block win-rate among guards last season, according to ESPN. They also acquired veteran tackle Tytus Howard in a trade with Houston. In the draft, they spent 1st, 3rd, and 5th round picks on offensive linemen, including 9th overall pick Spencer Fano, who ranked as the consensus #2 tackle in the class. With the recent retirement of long-time guard Joel Bitonio, Cleveland will enter the 2026 season with an entirely new offensive line. It’s hard to imagine them not improving from being the league’s 2nd-worst unit in 2025.

Quinshon Judkings 2026 Fantasy Outlook

Judkins managed to finish as the RB26 in points per game while fighting through horrendous offensive line performance. Even if an improved line raises his rushing efficiency, he will remain in the low RB2 range unless he becomes more involved in the passing game. The new head coach (Todd Monken) and offensive coordinator (Travis Switzer) both come from Baltimore. Their offenses were consistently towards the bottom of the league in RB target share. Judkins will also have to compete with his fellow 2025 rookie, Dylan Sampson, for targets out of the backfield. Sampson showed good pass-catching skills, pulling in 33 receptions as a rookie. There is no reason to believe he will be less involved.

It’s extremely difficult to become an elite fantasy RB without a consistent role in the passing game. It becomes even more difficult when your offense doesn’t score many points. That has been the case for the Browns since the franchise returned to Cleveland in 1999. It appears that the cards are stacked against Judkins becoming a fantasy superstar anytime soon.

With that being said, we have seen cases like Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry who put up RB1 numbers without much receiving work. They did so through elite efficiency and high TD totals, which will be hard to come by in an environment like this current Browns offense. Judkins’ RB24 ADP (Underdog Fantasy) is not too high a price to pay, but the limited projected ceiling will have most looking at other RB2 options.

Looking for your favorite team? This link will take you to the rest of our 2026 Look Inside team previews.

A Look Inside the Cleveland Browns

Editor’s Note: While this article focused on Quinshon Judkins in fantasy football, we don’t want to leave you hanging on the rest of the team. Here is a quick look at the other fantasy-relevant Browns from Ryan Weisse.

Deshaun Watson

Watson has played just 19 games since 2020. That’s 19 games in five seasons. To make matters worse, he’s thrown just 19 TDs in those games. Not good. When he plays, he still shows some rushing upside, but then he’s hurt, and you have to question if any of this is worth the headache of having Watson on your roster. Probably not.

Shedeur Sanders

If you have two QBs, you don’t have a QB. Sanders didn’t look terrible as a rookie, and he certainly outplayed Dillon Gabriel, but it sounds like Watson will get first crack at the job, meaning Sanders has no fantasy value until mid-season, at least.

Dylan Sampson

Sampson definitely showed some skill as a pass-catcher last season, and that can be very valuable for fantasy. If Judkins is limited or misses time, we should see an increase in both his carries and targets in 2026. He is worth a late-round pick, especially on teams that may have gone Zero-RB early in their drafts.

Jerry Jeudy

The Browns insist Jeudy is still in play at WR1. I am not sure why. He was a shade below mediocre last year, and the team spent two high draft picks on WRs. Maybe they are just trying not to tank Jeudy’s trade value? I don’t expect high passing volume from the Browns, and I do expect one of the rookies to take over. So Jeudy is a WR2, at best, on a team that may not throw very much. No, thank you.

KC Concepcion

Concepcion brings the kind of spark this Cleveland offense desperately needs, and he comps well to Zay Flowers, whom Todd Monken coached for three years in Baltimore. Flowers hogged targets and thrived under Monken. If not for this QB situation, I would love Concepcion. At this point, I am cautiously optimistic and happy to draft him as my WR4 or 5.

Denzel Boston

Boston is a talented receiver, but the landing spot is less than ideal in Year 1. He should be behind Concepcion, competing with Jeudy, and all the receivers may fall in line behind TE Harold Fannin. Being the 3rd or 4th option in a bad offense is never good for fantasy. Wait until 2027 to draft Boston.

Harold Fannin

Fannin was a revelation for the Browns last season, so much so that they let David Njoku walk this offseason. So with the TE reps all to himself, I should love Fannin…but I don’t. He is being drafted as the TE6, right in the middle of most drafts. That is commonly referred to as the TE Dead Zone, because these guys might hit their ADP, but rarely exceed it. Based on Monken’s usage of Mark Andrews, I am slightly concerned about the volume for Fannin and heavily concerned about the scoring opportunities. I like the kid a lot, I just think you’re drafting him at his ceiling.

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You can also see where Quinshon Judkins and the rest of the Browns fall in our 2026 Fantasy Rankings here!

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