Outgoing Ole Miss RB proves hard truth about transfer portal
Mississippi is an early winner in college football's 2024 transfer portal.
In just the past few weeks, Ole Miss has signed four of 247Sports' top 20 players in the portal, all from rival Southeastern Conference schools: defensive lineman Walter Nolen (Texas A&M, No. 1), edge-rusher Princely Umanmielen (Florida, No. 10), edge-rusher Tyler Baron (Tennessee, No. 11) and wide receiver Antwane "Juice" Wells (South Carolina, No. 16).
However, every program loses players in the portal, too. On Thursday, sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins — a star for Ole Miss this season — announced his intention to enter the portal.
Judkins was one of the most dynamic players in Mississippi's offense during his two seasons in Oxford, tallying 3,006 scrimmage yards and 34 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-SEC running back in each of those two seasons.
Judkins is from Pike Road, Ala., which could mean he has Ole Miss' rivals in the state, Alabama or Auburn, in mind as a landing spot.
CBS Sports writer Barrett Sallee listed Miami and Clemson as other options for Judkins and also mentioned Deion Sanders' Colorado program. Sallee pointed out that the Buffaloes had the worst rushing offense of any FBS team in 2023 (68.9 rushing yards per game).
According to 247Sports, if Mississippi wants to add a running back in the portal, its best options from Power Five schools are Dante Dowdell (freshman, Oregon), Ja'Quinden Jackson (junior, Utah) and Jordan Houston (senior, North Carolina State). The outlet's top two running backs in the portal are Peny Boone (junior, Toledo) and Rashad Amos (junior, Miami of Ohio).
Interestingly, while Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin wished Judkins well, quarterback Jaxson Dart posted — and later deleted — a cryptic video on Instagram of retired NFL QB Tom Brady saying he would rather play against selfish players than with them.
Whether Mississippi's offense will suffer without Judkins remains to be seen in 2024, but his transfer proves that if a program lives by the portal, it can also get rocked by the portal.
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