Getty Ohio State RB JK Dobbins
Ohio State’s JK Dobbins is an NFL Draft darling amongst scouts and media. He dominated the Big Ten for three seasons, totaling more than 5,000 yards over his career.
His stellar production has many believing he will sneak into the back end of the first round come late April.
We break down the top landing spots and best fits for the former OSU standout.
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Top-5 Landing Spots for JK Dobbins
- 5) Tennessee Titans
This may seem odd on the surface, considering the Titans have Derrick Henry and would be foolish to let him walk in free agency. However, Dion Lewis is as good as gone this offseason, as noted by ESPN’s Turon Davenport.
The Titans are a run-first offense and should continue to build on their strength. Also, while it’s nice to see Henry rush for 180+ yards consistently, you don’t want your top playmaker carrying the rock 30+ times a game for weeks on end in the regular season.
Dobbins would help take some of the workload off of Henry, helping keep the 2019 rushing champ fresh for the postseason.
Dobbins also offers a nice change of pace, style change from Henry. While also adding value in the passing game.
4) Houston Texans
Lamar Miller may have very well played his last down in Houston. Carlos Hyde seemed to be 100-yards or bust a season ago, having way too many sub-30 yard games for a player deemed as a team’s clear-cut RB1. While the Texans are still probably kicking themselves for trading a third-round pick in exchange for little-used Duke Johnson.
Dobbins would give Houston their first true game-changer ever in the backfield in the Deshaun Watson era.
3) Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons seem primed to move on from Devonta Freeman this offseason. Dobbins is built in a similar fashion to Freeman, stocky on low to the ground while possessing a similar ability to affect the game as a receiver.
Matt Ryan enjoyed his best seasons when he was able to lean heavily on his run game. In Ryan’s 2016 MVP season, the Falcons ranked fifth league-wide in rushing offense.
Ryan’s 2019 campaign was arguably his worst since his MVP season. Fittingly enough, the Falcons ranked 30th in rushing yards on the year.
2) San Francisco 49ers
This is obviously doesn’t appear to be a true need on the surface. The NFC champs ranked second in the NFL in rushing a season ago. Raheem Mostert broke out in front of our eyes during the team’s playoff run.
However, the team appeared to sour on Matt Breida throughout the latter part of the season. Tevin Coleman averaged 3.55 ypc or less in six of his final nine games of the 2019 regular season. Coleman’s contract gives the Niners an out if they so choose this offseason, outlined by Spotrac.
San Francisco doesn’t have too many holes, so trying to build on a strength is a sound way to approach the offseason and draft.
There is also the question of how much Kyle Shanahan’s offense is doing for San Fran’s running backs. Teaming up a prospect of Dobbins’ caliber with Shanahan’s dominating scheme could be deadly for the rest of the league.
1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Dobbins would take on the role recently manned by Peyton Barber in Tampa Bay, and likely expand on it tenfold. Ronald Jones would still operate in a pass-catching, change of pace role, something he appears to be best served for at the pro level.
Bruce Arians has shown to lack trust in his run game so much that he’d rather have Jameis Winston toss multiple interceptions per game than simply hand the ball off.
Dobbins’ elite vision would work perfectly in Tampa’s spread out scheme.
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