CBS Sports analyst Garrett Podell has put a sharp number on Quinshon Judkins' Week 1 outlook: more than 75 rushing yards against the Jaguars in the 2026 season opener. It is a bold call because it asks a Browns back coming off an 827-yard rookie season to break through against a defense that finished last season as the top run unit in football.
Judkins is the reason this prediction has teeth. He ran for 827 yards in the 2025 season even as Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders all started at quarterback for the Browns, and Podell argued that the back was already comfortable working through heavy traffic. The analyst said Judkins is used to facing loaded boxes and opponents selling out to stop him, which is why he sees the matchup differently than the average Week 1 projection.
The Jaguars still have the side of this argument that matters most on paper. They are in a second offseason in Anthony Campanile's scheme, lost no significant pieces this offseason and added a few rookie players, while BJ Green and Danny Striggow are among the second-year players who could make jumps. That stability is the backdrop for a defense that was already elite against the run last season, and it is why the number on Judkins stands out rather than blending into the usual preseason noise.
There is still a catch. The Browns are expected to start two rookie linemen in the game, and unsteady quarterback play could affect their ability to run the ball at all. That leaves the prediction sitting on a narrow edge: if the Jaguars contain Judkins early, Cleveland may be forced away from the ground game; if they do not, Podell's call quickly stops looking like a long shot and starts looking like the cleanest path for the Browns to control the game.
For now, the bet is less about a highlight total than about whether the Jaguars can hold up against a runner who already found yardage in difficult circumstances. Week 1 will answer it soon enough, but the prediction has already done its job by making Judkins the player to watch when the season opens.
