Cutting Through the Noise, Week 14

Photo: Tommy Gilligan, USA Today Sports

Each week in Cutting Through the Noise, we will take an objective look at one of the most polarizing players in Dynasty Fantasy Football as decided by the Footballguys Dynasty Discord. We will use the Footballguys consensus rankings to gauge where the player is currently valued.

J.K. Dobbins

RB33 and Overall No. 94

J.K. Dobbins has been put through the dynasty value blender over the past two seasons. Should we be trading for him today?

In 2017 J.K. Dobbins joined a long list of great Ohio State running backs that most recently included Ezekiel Elliot. On day one, Dobbins was considered the co-starter with Mike Weber, and his role expanded from there. He was able to rush 194 times for 1403 yards as a true freshman in the Big Ten. He added more attempts, touchdowns, receptions, and receiving yards in year two but his rushing yards dipped. Year three is where he made his money.

Dobbins rushed 301 times for 2003 yards. He scored more touchdowns (23) in 2019 than he had the previous two seasons combined (20) as the co-starter. He also added 23 receptions for 247 yards. He finished in the top 3 for the Doak Walker Running back of the year award, in addition to Jonathan Taylor and Chubba Hubbard. He also managed to receive the sixth most Heisman votes. Dobbins entered the Draft with just one major knock: the fact that he was sharing a draft class with some incredible talent at his position.

The 2020 Draft included the aforementioned Taylor and Hubbard, but it also included D'Andre Swift, Cam Akers, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, A.J. Dillon, and Antonio Gibson. All of them have had at least some semblance of success since entering the league. Dobbins was drafted 55th overall by the Baltimore Ravens. He was the fifth running back selected.

In year one, he started just 1-of-15 games played but still managed to produce 805 rushing yards on 134 carries. He added 18 receptions for 120 yards as the backup to Mark Ingram II. Just like his second year at Ohio State, Dobbins took over in year two. Unfortunately, his promising young career took a turn for the worst when he suffered an ACL tear in week four.

He returned in 2022 for just four games before experiencing yet another setback. His knee repair didn’t go exactly as planned, which resulted in the need for yet another surgery. He may be back by the end of the season, especially if the Ravens make a playoff run, but his level of production at any point going forward is unknown.