Eagles Considered Dynamic Ohio State RB over Jalen Hurts: Report

JK Dobbins

Getty Ohio State RB J.K. Dobbins rushed for 2,003 yards last season before the Ravens took him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

The NFL Draft was more than two months ago, yet new rumors abound about what the Eagles did or didn’t do in that fateful second round.

What Philadelphia did do was select Oklahoma dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts with the 53rd overall pick, a decision met with consternation at first. The Eagles had much bigger needs on offense, particularly at wide receiver and running back. While the narrative on the Hurts’ pick has mellowed — personally, I have come to embrace and love it — there are others who still can’t stand it.

But it’s more important to put it in context against the backdrop of the players the Eagles passed on to draft Hurts. For starters, one report claimed the team could have packaged their first-round pick (21st overall) plus the 53rd overall to move up and take CeeDee Lamb. He went to Dallas after the Oklahoma wideout was graded the most valuable college receiver since 2014, per Pro Football Focus. Of course, that would have meant no Jalen Reagor in Philly.

Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer dropped an interesting nugget about the Eagles’ looking hard at two other players in the second round: Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chin and Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins. Here is what Breer wrote about it:

I think the main argument here is how high Hurts was picked, given that the Eagles just gave their young franchise quarterback a top-of-the-market deal. Only time will tell us the rest of the story. And if you want something to track coming out of all this: Southern Illinois S/LB Jeremy Chinn (Panthers) and Ohio State RB J.K. Dobbins (Ravens) were two players I’d heard would’ve been under consideration, had Hurts not been the pick at 53. Gun to my head, I say Philly would’ve taken Chinn in that circumstance.

Chinn ended up going 64th overall to the Carolina Panthers while Dobbins went 55th overall to the Baltimore Ravens. Yes, both players were there for the taking but the Eagles preferred Hurts.

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Eagles Search for Bruising RB Continues into July

While Breer points out that Chinn was the likely choice over Dobbins, let’s focus the rest of this conversation on Dobbins. The 5-foot-10, 217-pounder finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2019 after rushing for a mind-boggling 2,003 yards for the Buckeyes. His 21 rushing touchdowns ranked third-best in the country.

Dobbins didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine but has previously clocked it in 4.45 seconds. Did that hurt his draft stock? Probably not. NFL scouts knew exactly what they were getting with the Texas native — a hard-charging, athletically-gifted kid who played in all 42 games in three years at Ohio State.

“I’m a pretty athletic guy,” Dobbins told reporters, via 24/7 Sports. “I’m pretty fast as well and a lot of people try to say that I can’t catch because I accidentally took my eyes off the screen pass in the Playoff game. But I had 70 catches — or more than 70 catches — so I think I can catch pretty good.”

Meanwhile, the Eagles are reportedly still searching for a veteran running back to share snaps with Miles Sanders in 2020. They have been mostly linked to Devonta Freeman and LeSean McCoy after admittedly letting Carlos Hyde “slip through our fingers.”

There are a few other options, guys like Royce Freeman (via trade) or free agents Theo Riddick or Lamar Miller. Right now, it looks as if the Eagles will allow Corey Clement, Boston Scott, Elijah Holyfield, Adrian Killins and Michael Warren to fight for the spot in camp. Scott has the inside track due to his versatility as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.

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