JK Dobbins had a successful career at Ohio State, capped off with a banner year, but he’s not getting enough respect as a member of the 2020 NFL Draft class.
Everyone talks about D’Andre Swift and Jonathan Taylor, but there’s one running back in the 2020 NFL Draft class who is actually the most complete and it’s neither of those two.
JK Dobbins is that dude.
NFL general managers should be focusing on the Ohio State product if I want to find my franchise back. He’s got everything you want in a running back with size, strength, acceleration and speed.
You don’t often see running backs with size and strength blowing by opponents, but Dobbins is a rare specimen. He is 5-foot-10 and 217 pounds and you wouldn’t think he’d have blow-by speed, but when you watch his film, it’s clear he’s unique. Watching both him and Jonathan Taylor play for the past two seasons, it’s fairly evident Dobbins was the better overall back.
That’s not a knock of Taylor, though, because he’ll be the next successful Wisconsin running back in the NFL, following in Melvin Gordon’s footsteps.
Dobbins, though, is different.
Any running back can possess strength and speed, but without vision, it’s all for naught. Dobbins also has impressive patience and while he ran behind an impressive offensive line, he was smart enough to wait for open lanes and burst through.
Once he reached the second level, he was incredibly difficult to bring down because he could make one shimmy and defenders would be left on the ground looking for their ankles.
And, Dobbins is a workhorse.
In fact, Dobbins had 301 rushing attempts in 2019, good for fifth-most in college football. He also finished with 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns which were both third-most in the country. There should be no worries about him being an every-down back at the next level because he’s no stranger to a heavy workload.
And, yes, Dobbins makes the most of his carries. He finished with a sparkling 6.7 yards per carry on the season which was the 15th-best mark in the nation. You don’t see that type of effectiveness from backs who carry the ball so much. Often you’ll see a four or five yards per carry, but his vision and burst set him apart.
Coming out of high school, per ESPN, he ran a 4.44 40-yard dash. Impressive for a kid his size and he’s only gotten better, stronger and faster.
How do you defend a back like this? You have to stack the box and hope he doesn’t slip out of traffic because he is a slippery back and even that might not be enough because he could leak out of the backfield to catch a pass. He caught 23 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns and that’s a part of his game that’s still growing.
While Dobbins may not be No. 1 on many draft boards at running back, he should be and he’ll prove such in due time.