Quinshon Judkins Q&A: Rookie RB Feels ‘At Home’ As a Cleveland Brown

Tyler Shough Q&A | Jaxson Dart Q&A Quinshon Judkins accomplished many feats in his first year as an Ohio resident, including winning a national championship and being on the cover of Sports Illustrated s special Ohio State commemorative issue .

Judkinss Ohio residency was extended after the Cleveland Browns took the bruising running back four picks into the second round of Aprils NFL draft .

He plans to accomplish a lot more for a franchise known for producing great running backs such as Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and most recently Nick Chubb.

Despite all the feats, Ohio still doesnt feel quite like home for Judkins, the Alabama native who spent his first two collegiate seasons at Ole Miss before joining the Buckeyes in 2024.

No, it does not [feel like home], says Judkins with a smile.

Im not going to lie to you.

Judkins is still getting acclimated to the cold weather in the Midwest, but hes well prepared for the fall and winter months, with a closet filled with coats and jackets after arriving in Columbus with only two jackets.

My mom is like, You keep buying all these jackets, its summertime, Judkins says.

I gotta change the way I dress.

I got so many coats, its ridiculous.

Last week, at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in sunny Los Angeles, Judkins sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss his 17-game season at Ohio State and what he plans to accomplish with the Browns.

He also shared his thoughts about his cover photo on SI s special issue for the Buckeyes.

But does he have a copy? Check out the full Q&A below.

Sports Illustrated: Whats the best advice youve gotten during your time here at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere? Quinshon Judkins: I think more so on time management, things that got you up to this point, dont change anything.

Just continue to be consistent and be a team guy.

SI: Q, me working for Sports Illustrated, I have to ask you about being on the cover of the Ohio State national championship special issue.

Do you have a copy of the magazine? QJ: Thats special.

I have to get me a copy.

SI: You dont have one yet?! QJ: Not yet.

My mom does, but I dont.

I get to see it a lot, but when I first saw it, it was surreal.

Sports Illustrated is a big deal, especially where I come from.

A lot of people dont have that achievement or something they could talk about.

Not only for myself, but my family is super proud of me and that accomplishment, you know, blessed.

SI: Im assuming youre O.K.

with the photo selection? You have a stiff arm on a golden helmet.

QJ: Yeah, that was a really good photo.

Shoutout to the camera man.

It was really good.

SI: Going from winning a national championship at Ohio State to being drafted by the Cleveland Browns, hows that been for you? QJ: Everything went by really fast throughout the whole process.

You just meet so many people.

Before I got to Clevelandgoing on visits, formal meetings, different things of that naturebut when I finally went down to Cleveland, I didnt have any stress or any different feeling because I already felt like I was at home.

Didnt have to drive or fly anywhere super far.

Its only two hours.

I was back home in Cleveland, so I was excited to get to work and see all the staff again and see my teammates and people I look forward to making a lot of accomplishments with.

SI: You mentioned your upbringing and your family.

Where is home home for you? QJ: Originally, from Montgomery, Alabama.

I went to high school in Pike Road, so Im based out of Alabama.

SI: So is it safe to say that Ohio now feels like home to you? QJ: No, it does not.

Im not going to lie to you.

Alabama is really hot.

Its humid.

Its a lot of trees.

Not really too much to do.

Ill say my time in Columbus was quite the opposite, because my family came to town for games, different stuff that we could do.

We could travel and they have cabins out there, different things, downtown, as far as amusements for families.

And then, Ill say its just really cold there, too.

The weather, its snowing.

When I was at Ohio, it was the first time I learned how to plow the snow off my car in my driveway, so it was definitely a different experience for me, but I adjusted to it, and its normal for me now.

Im excited.

SI: So you have a bunch of jackets now? Youre used to the cold weather? QJ: A lot of jackets.

When I first went to Ohio State, I only had two jackets in my whole closet and now my closet is full of jackets.

SI: Q, you played 17 games last season, the longest season in college football history.

Do you think thats going to help you in your rookie NFL season? QJ: Definitely.

I felt like myself when I looked back at my body after the season, how I took care of myself, how I managed my schedule and my routine for every single day throughout the season.

When you do play 17 games in college, thats not normal for how college used to be.

But Ill say its something for the NFL.

Youre playing 17 games a season.

So it got me and my body adjusted, like, O.K., I know how this feels for me.

I dont have any nicks or any injuries or anything like that, and being able to come into rookie minicamp healthy, with no injuries or anything like that, it helped me as far as knowing how to take care of my body once it gets to that back end of the season, and how to manage the small things and be on routine.

SI: I was looking at your playoff path.

Ohio State beat Tennessee, beat Oregon.

Your new Browns teammates went there, Dylan Sampson and Dillon Gabriel, respectively.

Do you ever give them crap for those playoff wins over their schools? QJ: Oh, yeah.

All the time.

I try not to be too harsh, but I mean sometimes Dillon brings up how they beat us the first time and Ill just do this to him [flash four fingers] and hell shut up.

[Ohio State won the second game over Oregon, 4121.] Even Mason Graham [who went to Michigan], a lot of us have a little team chemistry, but also, at the same time, theres a little animosity because we just played each other not too long ago.

We laugh about the moments at particular points in these games that we played against each other, how we were a part of each others journeys, and where we ended up now.

So its pretty special.

SI: Many got a close look at the Browns rookie minicamp because the cameras love Shedeur Sanders, but it really seemed like all of you have built good camaraderie already.

Is that accurate to say? QJ: As a whole, we had a great draft class.

I think everyone brought attention because of our talent, and our work ethic.

Really everybody who came in with that mentality of being ready to work.

I feel like for myself, as a competitor and as a player, that was one of my goals.

When I come to be a Cleveland Brown, Im coming in to change the organization, contribute, do the best I can.

I know what it takes to win, so Im going to bring that mentality here to Cleveland and do the same thing.

SI: Is that what the Browns told you that they want you to bring that championship pedigree over to Cleveland? QJ: I dont want to say bring just that over, but they love me as a player, as a person, what I stand for.

Obviously, the things on tape, everything athletically.

But aside from that, how I could help [them] win and thats what I bring.

SI: How did you take in all the predraft evaluations from the coaches, scouts and even the media? People have an opinion about everything, theres criticism, theres praise.

For you, the common evaluation was physical runner, a bruising running back, can close the game in the fourth quarter.

Do you like the compliments or does it bother you that more people dont give you credit as a complete back? QJ: Those comments come from people who really dont have the [qualifications].

You know what Im saying? At the same time, I really dont listen to the good or bad.

Thats just how I was raised, thats part of my upbringing, just dialed in and focused as an athlete.

The people who know me, who recruited me, they know I have a lot of accomplishments.

Freshman of the Year SEC, everything.

Turn on the tape.

It shows.

I do everything as a player.

Complete running back, every-down running back, catch, block, run 80 yards, 90 yards, whatever you want me to do, Ill do it.

Im just excited to do it at the next level.

SI: You being a competitor, have you challenged some of your fellow rookies in practice yet? QJ: So far, the only type of friendly competition that Ive had with anybody yet has been with Carson [Schwesinger], our new linebacker.

We were talking in a room, and I was like, I dont know why you ran up behind me like that.

Do you know what I would have done? He was like, Do you know what I would have done? We just started laughing about that.

I think the second day of minicamp, me and one of the corners, we just started chirping a little bit.

Its just me as a competitor.

SI: Besides football, is there anything else that youre very competitive about? QJ: Everything.

It doesnt matter.

Basketball.

We can play golf.

It doesnt matter.

Im trying to win.

Whatever you want to play, Im going to win.

Thats my mindset and my goal..

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