J.K. Dobbins' yards per carry averaged drop a bit last year, falling from 7.2 his freshman season to 4.6 in 2018.
But that production dip alone doesn't tell the whole story.
According to Pro Football Focus, 620 of Dobbins' 1,053 rushing yards – almost 60 percent of his production – came after contact.
J.K. Dobbins was a wrecking ball for Ohio State last year. pic.twitter.com/2eCTiNCaJ1
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 28, 2019
Whether it was product of the offensive scheme, offensive line play, a pocket passer at quarterback, opposing defenses loading the box, or a combination of all of those factors, Dobbins had to bully his way to over half of his yardage last season, and still managed to hit the 1,000-yard mark.
Dobbins, however, placed the blame for the drop in efficiency squarely on himself.
“I'm not going to make any excuses,” Dobbins said Thursday. “It was me. I regressed last year. I didn't have the year that I needed to have. So I put that on myself, and I'll get back to that this upcoming year.”
Dobbins returns this season as the only Ohio State running back ever to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons, and could join Archie Griffin as the only Buckeye back to rush for 1,000 yards in three seasons.
As the featured back with a dual-threat quarterback in Justin Fields to take some heat off him in the rushing game, perhaps we'll see Dobbins get back to his 2017 form this season.
