Sampson caught 6 passes for 62 yards and ran once for 7 yards, finishing as the RB17. He led Cleveland’s backfield with 39 snaps to Quinshon Judkins’ 27. Judkins played a season-low 39% of snaps and ran 11 times for just 25 yards (2.3 yards per carry). Cleveland trailed for most of a 27-6 loss.
2026 Fantasy Football Impact
Judkins has been the early-down back all season, playing 75% of those snaps but only 20% of third downs. Sampson led on early downs 27 to 20 this week, but that was entirely due to game script. He also took 7 of 11 third-down snaps and 3 of 5 short-yardage snaps, while Judkins kept 4 of 5 goal-line snaps. Sampson ran 32 routes to Judkins’ 10.
Sampson was hurt early in Week 1 and didn’t play his first offensive snap until Week 7. In his debut, he ran 6 times for 45 yards and caught 3 passes for 32 yards as the RB24. Judkins finished as the RB3 that week with 96 yards and 2 TDs, a good example of how game script swings this backfield. Sampson has taken the third-down role and played more early downs than Raheim Sanders or Jaleel McLaughlin did before him.
New Orleans allows the most fantasy points to RBs in Week 9 and ranked 32nd in our run defense power rankings heading into Week 8 (11.1 rush DVOA). A close game there would favor Judkins. Houston allows the 12th-most points to RBs in Week 10 and ranked 17th in run defense power. Sampson is a PPR flex whose value climbs when Cleveland plays from behind.
