J.K. Dobbins enters Year 2 with a much clearer picture around him in the Baltimore backfield. With increased opportunity on the horizon in 2021, can Dobbins make the leap to upper-tier fantasy football asset? Let’s take a look at JK Dobbins‘ 2020 season and project where he could end up in the overall rankings in 2021.
Fantasy Football Player Previews: J.K. Dobbins
| PPR Finish in 2020 | Half-PPR Finish in 2020 | Standard Finish in 2020 |
| RB #24 | RB #21 | RB #17 |
| PPR PPG Finish in 2020 | Half-PPR PPG Finish in 2020 | Standard PPG Finish in 2020 |
| RB #24 | RB #30 | RB #28 |
Understanding the 2020 Ravens Backfield
J.K. Dobbins had one of the weirdest years when it comes to a running back. When the season began the Ravens had a three-headed backfield, using Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards and Dobbins. Obviously, since Dobbins is the youngest of the trio he was not given the workload that he truly deserved early on in the season. Once they began to phase Ingram out, Dobbins saw higher snap counts, which obviously made it so that he could produce more fantasy points.
Dobbins’ 2020 Production
Dobbins played in 15 games but only started one. He had 134 rushes for 806 yards and nine touchdowns. He is also a solid receiver, catching 18 passes on 24 targets for 120 yards, but they resulted zero touchdowns. He also had two fumbles on the year. All of these numbers come together for a total of 168.5 PPR points, 159.5 half-PPR points and 150.5 standard points (11.2 PPR points per game, 10.6 half-PPR, 10 standard)
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While Dobbins was not given the lion’s share of opportunity in the Ravens backfield, he was one of the most efficient running backs in the NFL. Dobbins’ true yards per carry ranked first in the league, which discounts all runs over 10 yards to help fairly determine how well a player runs. He had 5.4 true yards per carry and 6 normal yards per carry. Dobbins had the highest breakaway run rate with 8.2%, and his 11 breakaway runs on the season (0.7 per game) were fourth.
Changes to the Ravens
In the offseason, the Ravens decided to let go of Ingram, which was a relatively obvious move since they basically benched him down the stretch. The Ravens also signed Edwards to a two-year deal worth $9 million. So now the running back room is going to be led by Dobbins, and Edwards will be getting additional touches and receptions. On a sourer note, the Ravens traded Orlando Brown Jr., their two-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle, to the Chiefs.
2021 Outlook
One of the negative aspects of Dobbins to most is the worry of Lamar Jackson. Jackson vultures touchdowns frequently, but most are overreacting to this narrative. Dobbins will be thrust into what should be a top-three rushing attack in the NFL, with a heavily increased workload in 2021. There should be no reason Dobbins cannot finish as a middling RB2 with enough upside to be RB1.
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