Ohio State Football: Will JK Dobbins be RB1 in 2020 NFL Draft?

With no clear cut No.1 running back in the 2020 draft class, could Ohio State football’s J.K Dobbins be the first back off of the board?

What a season that Ohio State running back JK Dobbins had in 2019. He rushed for over 2,000 yards, had 21 touchdowns and averaged 6.7 yards per carry. He also contributed in the passing game, catching 23 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

Dobbins was instrumental in leading Ohio State to the College Football Playoff and he has the potential to be the first running back chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Ohio State has always seemed to produce good NFL-caliber running backs from Eddie George to Ezekiel Elliott. The Buckeyes are known for producing productive backs and it should be no different with Dobbins.

Dobbins had a really good freshman season with the Buckeyes, rushing for over 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns and became a Heisman Trophy dark-horse heading into the 2018 season. However, he had a bit of a down year in 2018, rushing for just over 1,000 yards, but some of that can be attributed to the Buckeyes having a more pass heavy attack with Dwayne Haskins, Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell and splitting carries with Mike Weber.

This past season, however, he was an absolute workhorse for the Buckeyes, carrying the ball over 300 times and was arguably the best back in college football.

Does that mean Dobbins will be the first running back taken in the NFL draft? I’m going to look at his biggest strengths and weaknesses and give a projection on where I think he will go.

Strengths

Dobbins’ biggest strength is his vision and ability to quickly hit the hole at the line of scrimmage. He was excellent at identifying where he needed to run as soon as he got the handoff and that is a big reason why he averaged nearly 7.0 yards per carry last season.

He is also a very strong runner with a powerful lower body to fight through contact and rarely goes down on the first hit. Dobbins is built to take hits in the NFL and looks the part of a top-tier NFL back at 5-10, 217 pounds.

I think that Dobbins is an underrated receiver and I think that part of his game could be more featured in the NFL than it was at Ohio State. He would fit well in a zone scheme that relies on his elite ability to cut and get up field and pull away from defenders.

Weaknesses

One of Dobbins’ main weaknesses are his speed. He lacks top-end speed to be able to break away long runs consistently at the next level. He also had over 700 carries during his career at Ohio State, so you do wonder if there will be any durability concerns at the next level. He also is not the most versatile guy in terms of being an impact player in the return game and that could lower his value in the eyes of some teams.

Draft Expectation

Projecting where running backs will go in a draft can be difficult, even for backs as good as Dobbins. The running back position is just not valued as much as it used to be and that can cause some guys to fall. I do think that some team will fall in love with Dobbins’ production and his vision and ability to get tough yards.

Projection: Late-first/early-second round