J.K. Dobbins Hoping Historic Year Earns First-Round Call

Ohio State single-season rushing leader battling injuries at Combine

The oddity of Ohio State having more players drafted by the NFL than any other school over the past 20 years and the Buckeyes' reputation as a long-time college football powerhouse shows up in the scarcity at one particular position on rosters league-wide.

OSU has had 131 players drafted in the past two decades.

OSU has also won more Heisman Trophies, seven, than any other school and has had more running backs (six) win Heisman Trophies than any other school.

Throw those statistics into a blender and you'd expect at least a half-dozen Buckeye running backs to be getting carries throughout the league.

Instead, only Ezekiel Elliott and Carlos Hyde carried both the football and the Ohio State flag in the NFL last season.

J.K. Dobbins aims to change that after a record-setting season at OSU in 2019, during which he rushed for a school-record 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Dobbins is almost certain to go before Round Three, but he could squeeze into the first round, depending whether teams prefer him to Georgia's DeAndre Swift, Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor or LSU's Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

"My film speaks for itself,” Dobbins said. “The vision I have, the explosiveness. All that stuff, but But I’m a great leader. I feel like when a team is on the field around me, I’m going to make every single player around me better.”

In an interview with PFT Live, Dobbins likened himself to Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

“My team didn’t really put me at slot receiver like that, but I definitely can catch the ball a lot so I see myself as a player like him,” Dobbins said. “He runs tough, can make people miss, can take it the distance, just like me.”

Dobbins sprained his ankle in OSU's loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.

He says that injury is 95% healed, but that he's been battling a hamstring issue for the first time in his career.

Those injuries convinced Dobbins to pass on running the 40 Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Dobbins will have almost a month to get fully healthy so he can impress scouts at OSU's Pro Day on March 25 at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

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