Better Know a Buckeye: J.K. Dobbins

This week's Better Know a Buckeye feature continues with a profile of J.K. Dobbins, a running back from La Grange, Texas.

Dobbin gave every indication after his junior season that he wanted to stay close to his La Grange home. He already had offers from Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M. He had rave reviews of all three. He enjoyed his Oklahoma visits, said Texas A&M "felt like home," and said Texas was his "dream school." It's any wonder he was not committed to one of those three schools during his junior season. Ohio State threw its hat into the ring last February and was able to persuade him to commit to Ohio State, site unseen, on March 6, 2016. That commitment held strong and Dobbins later enrolled in January to start his career early.

I retell this story below. After discussing his surprising commitment, I offer a scouting report of a running back who is already making impressions on Ohio State's spring depth chart. This bodes well for early playing time for Dobbins in the fall. I close with highlight film for the reader to watch at the end of the feature.

HIS RECRUITMENT

J.K. Dobbins hails from a state rich with talent and in which scouts are routinely looking for freshmen and sophomores who could be major commodities on the recruiting trail as seniors. Dobbins was already generating such headlines as a freshman, appearing on watch lists in the spring and summer of 2014 alongside familiar names like Hezekiah Jones (Texas A&M), Marvin Wilson (Florida State), and other players that would sign with Power Five programs in Texas and across the country.

It took his sophomore season, replete with 200-yard rushing contests, before he started earning major attention and scholarship offers. Texas Christian offered at the end of January in 2015. Houston offered in February, a month into Tom Herman's full-time job with the Cougars. California, which recruited Texas aggressively under Sonny Dykes, offered in March.

Perhaps the first "major" offer for Dobbins was Oklahoma. Dobbins visited Oklahoma on April 11 for its spring game and left with a scholarship offer. However, Dobbins was a lifelong Texas fan. He is from La Grange, about an hour's drive from Austin. Less than a month after receiving an offer from Oklahoma, Dobbins was openly pleading for an offer from Texas.

I’ve always been a big Texas fan... My whole family loves Texas too. They’ve been pushing me to go there. But I have to get an offer first. Really, it was my dream school growing up, and it’s still a dream school. I hope I do get the offer.

He got his wish when Texas offered in mid-June, after offers from Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. In a few months, Stanford and Arkansas offered a few months later. With offers from Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma in hand, it's any wonder that Dobbins wasn't off the market and pledged to one of those programs (certainly Texas) after 2015.

We can understand the indecision by reference to Texas' sagging football fortunes under Charlie Strong. Dobbins wanted to see how exactly he would fit into a Charlie Strong offense that only partially found its footing too late into Strong's tenure in 2016. Further, Dobbins appreciated that it was a monumental decision he was about to make. He wanted time to do it right, even if his timetable still indicated a mid-season decision in 2015. If that had held, Dobbins would have committed to Oklahoma, Texas, or Texas A&M and would not be profiled here.

His recruitment spilled into 2016, forgoing a mid-season decision in 2015 that he thought he'd make. Still on the board, he began to attract attention from programs in the Midwest who interpreted that as a signal that he would be willing to travel for college. Wisconsin and Notre Dame threw their hat into the ring on consecutive days last February. Ohio State extended its scholarship two weeks later, dead set at the time on recruiting two tailbacks into its 2017 class.

This is where things stood entering March 6, 2016. Dobbins still seemed to be evaluating his options and nothing indicated a decision would be forthcoming anytime soon. Further, it still seemed improbable that Dobbins would leave the state of Texas, especially holding an offer from his "dream school" in Austin.

HIS COMMITMENT

We were as surprised as anyone when J.K. Dobbins committed to Ohio State on March 6, 2016 as the ninth member of what would become Ohio State's full 2017 recruiting class. He chose Ohio State principally over Texas, whose coaching staff must have felt apoplectic about losing him to a program that he had yet to visit.

The decision felt similar to Haskell Garrett's case. The subject of last week's Better Know a Buckeye feature had yet to visit Ohio State and has no family connections to Ohio. Both shared the similar lack of any indication whatsoever that a commitment to Ohio State was in the works.

This was fundamentally a "business decision." Dobbins wants to go to the NFL and identified Ohio State, under Urban Meyer's direction, as the best route there. This stands in contrast to previous statements about Texas as a "dream school." It also defied local pressure to stay close to home and remain in the Lone Star State. Dobbins echoed a talking point Urban Meyer reiterates when recruiting prospects from the South who would otherwise think to stay local. If the NFL is the final destination, he won't have agency over whether he is drafted to a place like New England or Seattle. There would invariably be a December game in Green Bay in his future. He thought he might as well prepare for it now.

Dobbins visited Ohio State for the first time at the end of March. He impressively never wavered on his recruitment thereafter. He did not even visit other programs despite accruing offers from Alabama, Florida, and USC after his commitment to Ohio State.

He enrolled in January.

WHERE HE EXCELS

Dobbins is a diminutive tailback with good speed, quickness, and a good ability to change directions. Despite sharing features that would lead the casual fan to think he's an H-back, expect Dobbins to factor into the tailback rotation populated by Mike Weber and Antonio Williams.

It's hard to pin down one obvious superlative to Dobbins when he looks so good in important respects. He has good vision, good burst, good speed, good ability to change direction. There's not an obvious trait that leaps out to highlight. Perhaps it makes sense, then, that Dobbins was named most overall athletic talent at the 2016 Nike Football Ratings National Championship.

The 2016 Nike+ Football Rating Champion | @Jkdobbins22 pic.twitter.com/63nlT0kaCZ

— The Opening (@TheOpening) July 8, 2016

One thing worth relaying to the reader is how strong he plays at the position. Despite a stature that would make him "smaller" than either Weber or Williams, he plays strong at the point of the attack and runs with balance, power, and speed.

He should also be better in space or running around edges than either Weber or Williams on the roster.

MUST WORK ON

I don't think Dobbins will ever be a home-run threat at tailback for Ohio State. The Buckeyes may be lacking that right now at the position. Dobbins might be faster than Weber or Williams, but not faster than Demario McCall.

I would make a token comment about his size, but he enrolled in January. Ohio State's roster lists him at 208 pounds, which would be just six pounds smaller than Mike Weber and effectively the same size as Antonio Williams (i.e. Williams is about an inch taller). Size won't be much of an issue going forward.

REDSHIRT?

J.K. Dobbins reportedly passed Antonio Williams on the depth chart, indicating he's in a prime position to spell Mike Weber in 2017. This would be good for Ohio State as Dobbins is a mold of running back different from Weber or Williams. He could be a change of pace in 2017 and seems well-positioned to be on the field this fall toward that end.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are junior-year highlights for Dobbins.