J'Kaylin Dobbins (born December 17, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and was drafted by the Ravens in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early years

Dobbins attended

La Grange High School La Grange High School is a public high school in La Grange, Texas ( US). It is a part of the La Grange Independent School District located in central Fayette County. In 2015, the school was rated " Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency. ...

La Grange, Texas La Grange ( ) is a city in Fayette County, Texas, United States, near the Colorado River. La Grange is in the center of the Texas-German belt. The population was 4,391 at the 2020 census, and in 2018 the estimated population was 4,632. La Grange ...

. During his

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

career, he had 5,149 yards and 74

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. He rushed for 2,243 yards and 37 touchdowns as a sophomore and 2,740 yards and 35 touchdowns as a junior. He played in only one game his senior year due to an injury. Despite his injury, Dobbins was a highly-touted four-star prospect, and received over twenty scholarship offers from

Power Five conferences The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiat ...

. All major recruiting websites ranked him in the top five among his 2017 class for his position and in the top ten for players from the state of Texas. 247Sports and ESPN.com ranked him as a top-50 recruit in the country. After some speculation that he would sign with Texas or Oklahoma, Dobbins committed to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

to play college football.

College career

In his first game at Ohio State in 2017, Dobbins rushed for 181 yards on 29 carries against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Dobbins had earned the start over the returning 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year

Mike Weber Michael Weber (born December 16, 1987) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He previously played with the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey L ...

who was recovering from an injury. In his first season, he eclipsed 100 rushing yards in six games and became only the fourth freshman in Ohio State history to eclipse the 1,000 yard rushing mark in a season. During the

2017 Big Ten Football Championship Game The 2017 Big Ten Football Championship Game presented by Discover was played on December 2, 2017 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The seventh annual Big Ten Football Championship Game, it determined the 2017 champion of the Big Ten ...

, Dobbins overtook

Maurice Clarett Maurice Edward Clarett (born October 29, 1983) is a former American football running back who played for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. He also played professionally for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. During his fr ...

for the most rushing yards by a Freshman with his 174-yard, MVP performance. During a 24–7

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

win against USC, Dobbins set the Freshman rushing record at 1,403 yards. Despite a record-setting 2017 season , Dobbins' would once again split time with Weber during his Sophomore year. The time split paired with

Dwayne Haskins Dwayne Haskins Jr. (May 3, 1997 – April 9, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football at Ohio State, where he set the Big Ten Conference records fo ...

' award-winning performance at quarterback lead to a decrease in productivity for Dobbins. He ended the season with 1,053 yards rushing, but remained the team's leading rusher. Notably, he had his first 200+ yard rushing game against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. In 2019, Dobbins would enter his Junior season with high expectations. These expectations were met when he went on to gain 100+ yards in ten games during the season. This included a four-touchdown performance against

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

that stemmed from 211 yards rushing. He finished his season as the only Buckeye in history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, passing

Eddie George Edward Nathan George Jr. (born September 24, 1973) is an American football coach and former player who is the current head coach at Tennessee State. He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily f ...

. Dobbins was a

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Le ...

finalist and finished sixth for the Heisman Trophy. He was named First-team All-Big Ten and First-team All-American as an All-Purpose player by the Football Writers Association of America. On December 30, 2019, Dobbins announced his intention to forgo his senior season and enter the 2020 NFL Draft. He left Ohio State with a total of 4,459 yards rushing, which makes him second all time. He won four Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Awards, three Big Ten titles and two bowl games.

Statistics

Dobbins' statistics are as follows:

Professional career

Dobbins was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the 55th overall pick by the

. The Ravens previously traded tight end

Hayden Hurst Hayden Randle Hurst (born August 24, 1993) is an American football tight end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Carolina and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round ...

to the Atlanta Falcons to acquire the pick used on Dobbins.

2020 season

In his NFL debut against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

on September 13, 2020, Dobbins had seven carries for 22 yards and scored his first two career rushing touchdowns in a 38–6 victory in Week 1. In Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had his first 100-yard rushing game with 15 carries for 113 rushing yards in the 24–28 loss. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

list by the team on November 23, 2020, and activated on December 4. Dobbins first start in his career came in a Week 16 27–13 win over the New York Giants. He finished the game with 11 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown. In Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Dobbins rushed for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns during the 38–3 win.

2021 season

Dobbins suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in the final preseason game against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

on August 28, 2021, and was placed on injured reserve a few days later. Dobbins did not play the entire 2021 season and was put into rehab during his time off.

2022 season

Dobbins was cleared for full-time starter duty after missing the first two weeks of the season. However, he suffered another knee injury in Week 6 and was placed on injured reserve on October 22, 2022. He was activated from injured reserve on December 10, 2022.https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/12/10/ravens-cut-mike-davis-with-j-k-dobbins-returning/amp/

NFL career statistics

Notes

References

External links

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Baltimore Ravens bioOhio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbins, J. K. Living people 1998 births People from La Grange, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football running backs Ohio State Buckeyes football players Baltimore Ravens players All-American college football players