Ohio State Football: Dobbins could become Buckeyes’ top career rusher

On Friday, Ohio State football running back J.K. Dobbins became the fifth leading rusher in Buckeye history. Where will he finish?

Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins has been incredible for the Buckeyes throughout his career in Columbus, running for 3,403 career yards through about two-and-a-half seasons.

That puts him as the fifth leading rusher in Buckeye history behind Tim Spencer, Eddie George, Ezekiel Elliott and Archie Griffin. What spot will he finish at once his OSU career is done though?

I think he will ultimately finish second, passing Elliott for that No. 2 spot.

For reference, Griffin had 5,589 career rushing yards, Elliott had 3,961, George had 3,768 and Spencer had 3,553.

So far this season Dobbins has run for 947 yards through seven games, good enough for 135.3 rushing yards per game.

If Dobbins keeps up that pace then he will have 4,0000 career rushing yards by time the Michigan game is over.

The Buckeyes could play at least two games after UM too with hopefully a Big Ten Championship Game and either a bowl game or a game in the College Football Playoff, so he has room to have a couple down games and still get to No. 2.

What if they reach the national championship and have eight games left though?

If he does keep up that pace and they do reach a national championship game then Dobbins could have around 4,500 career rushing yards by time the season ends.

He should pass Elliott easily.

Wait, isn’t Dobbins only a junior? Doesn’t he have a pretty good shot at reaching that No. 1 mark set by Griffin?

Yes, he would have a great shot at it. He would just be about 1,000 yards away from that mark after this season. His lowest season rushing total with the Buckeyes throughout his first two seasons was 1,053 yards last year in an offense that did not fit him as well as next year’s offense would.

That means Dobbins should easily get 1,000 yards next season and become the OSU all-time leading rusher. Right?

I don’t think so. Dobbins is a top running back on many NFL Draft big boards. I think this will be his last year at OSU as he will go to the NFL next season.

When it is all said and done I think Dobbins will be Ohio State’s second leading rusher of all-time when he leaves. That is an accomplishment that cannot be overlooked with the great running backs the Buckeyes have had throughout their history. Guys like the other top five backs mentioned earlier in addition to Chris Wells, Carlos Hyde and others.