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When is Quinshon Judkins coming back? Will Quinshon Judkins play again this season? Read about Quinshon Judkins's return date and injury updates for 2026.
Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins (ankle) entered the season as a potential breakout candidate for fantasy football. He was seen as the clear No. 1 workhorse running back for his team.
He had to recover from a serious ankle injury that prematurely ended his 2025 season, though. And that came late in the year, meaning he had less time to work his way back after the surgery he had to correct the issue.
While the Browns offense has been better than expected, Judkins hasn't exactly been a league-winner. But when will he return from his injury, and what's his fantasy football outlook for when he's back?
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Quinshon Judkins Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Judkins is dealing with an aggravation of the devastating ankle injury he suffered last season. In the NFL, it's an unwritten rule that players are expected to return earlier than expected from their injuries, and this often prevents a full recovery.
You don't get far in organized football without playing through injuries that doctors would recommend you never play contact sports through. When tens of millions of dollars are on the line, players play through serious ailments.
Quinshon Judkins is down and in some discomfort https://t.co/RyosNvWNXy
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 21, 2025
Judkins' injury last season ended his rookie campaign, and he required surgery to correct the issue. He returned to practice ahead of Week 1 and was able to play in every game until Week 6, after the Week 5 re-aggravation.
He was questionable for the game before eventually being ruled out, meaning he's likely to return in Week 7.
Quinshon Judkins Fantasy Football Outlook
The Browns offense is better than expected this season. The last few games, though, they've struggled. What seemed like a potential Comeback Player of the Year campaign for quarterback Deshaun Watson gave way to two straight games with under 160 passing yards.
Judkins doesn't have a ton of pass-catching upside to make up for when the offense overall isn't doing well. He needs a lot of volume and a good amount of touchdowns to have high-end fantasy performances. This season, he scored single-digit PPR fantasy points in four of his five games played.
Quinshon Judkins nearly had a 56-yard touchdown run, but a flag was thrown on the Browns. Just brutal-- Judkins is having a really nice game: https://t.co/nFbChjsqe4
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) October 5, 2025
Judkins' skill set is his combination of speed, acceleration, and power. It's good enough for him to have big games when the blocking lets him get past the line of scrimmage and downhill. And he's a solid goal-line and short-yardage back with his power.
Unfortunately, the Browns also drafted RB Dylan Sampson (knee) in the same draft as Judkins. Sampson has been very good as a pass-catcher, and the Browns preferred him to handle the targets last season. He's often in on obvious passing downs to handle check-down passes.
Dylan Sampson goes for 43 yards 😤
CLEvsCHI on @nflnetwork
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/Km6FWPu6wD— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2026
Sampson should return to play soon. He's not ideally suited for a power-back inside runner role, but even in his absence due to a knee injury in the first five games, Judkins' receiving work wasn't enough to make him a fantasy RB1.
When Sampson is back, it's unlikely Judkins keeps being targeted nearly four times per game. Last season, he saw just 36 targets in 15 contests, good for barely over two per outing.
Dylan Sampson with a HUGE 66-yard TD from Sheduer Sanders 🤯https://t.co/oJYPU2jUe8
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) November 23, 2025
Cleveland's offense just isn't good enough for Judkins to be an RB1 unless he sees a major jump in efficiency. His pass-catching role has even been solid, but his productivity as a receiver pales in comparison to Sampson's.
Judkins is averaging three yards per carry this season. That's not good enough for him to be a fantasy RB1, and could even lead to a reduced workload, though Cleveland doesn't have many other RBs to hand the ball off to right now.
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Week 7 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Quinshon Judkins, Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 7.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
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Popular Week 7 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 7 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 7 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 7 for Quinshon Judkins, Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime:
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