The Baltimore Ravens have a good thing going with J.K. Dobbins:
By now we are all fully aware of the outcome from Sunday’s game against our deepest rivals in the black and yellow, but there are some glaring positives that need to be discussed that came from the loss as well.
In the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft our Baltimore Ravens drafted a young man by the name of J.K. Dobbins and on Sunday he finally earned himself a big-time role. This quote from John Harbaugh was featured in a post by Ryan Mink on Baltimoreravens.com:
"“J.K. [Dobbins] wasn’t anything surprising to us; he’s going to play well,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “All of our backs are excellent backs. They all make plays. They all run well when they go out there. So, it wasn’t anything that I think was surprising in any way. We kind of expected him to play well, just like we do the other guys to play well when they go in there.”"
The Ohio State single-season rushing leader was the star on Sunday against the toughest, most feared defense currently in the NFL. Dobbins toked the ball 15 times on Sunday and gained 113 yards on those carries against the top defense in the NFL. That’s a 7.5 yard per carry average…against the best defense in the NFL…as a rookie. Dobbins also added a catch for eight yards as well.
The rookies previous highest rushing game was week two at Houston where he went for 48 yards on two carries. This quote again is from the Ravens official website:
"“That’s what they brought me here for,” Dobbins said. “They brought me here to play in big games like this and help the team win. But we didn’t get the win, so we need to just keep working.”"
Entering the game on Sunday the Pittsburgh Steelers were only allowing a measly 69 rushing yards per game. At the end of the first quarter Sunday the Ravens had already gouged the Steelers for 65 yards and ended the game with 265 rushing yards on 47 carries. Lamar Jackson, J.K. Dobbins and company did what they wanted to do on the ground, at least. Here’s another quote from Dobbins:
"“Yes, definitely a physical game, and that’s what I expected,” Dobbins said of his first Ravens-Steelers battle. “We’ve got to be better next time.”"
J.K. is starting to make a big case for himself as the lead guy in Baltimore, even when a healthy Mark Ingram returns. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF) “Elusive Rating,” Dobbins is first in the entire NFL with a rating of 137.3. The next closest is Cam Akers with a 113.8. Just to be clear, the PFF “Elusive Rating” distills the success and impact of a runner with the ball independently of the blocking in front of him by looking at how hard he was to bring down.
The Formula: (Missed Tackles Forced) / (Designed Run Attempts + Receptions) * (Yards After Contact Per Attempt * 100)
Per PFF, Dobbins leads the NFL in yards after contact per attempt. As elusive as he is, the rookie from Ohio State is also a freight train to tackle. Oh, and did I mention he is explosive as heck too? On Dobbin’s 15 carries, six of them went for at least ten yards and one went for eight.
There is no denying the talent of the 5’10” bowling ball from Houston, TX, and there is also no denying his future stardom here in Baltimore is just around the corner.