[OT] Rival Watch: OSU's true freshman RB JK Dobbins named "co-starter" with RsSo. Mike Weber

Submitted by BoFlex on

Ohio State released thier depth chart for the Oklahoma game this week, and JK Dobbins was listed as a "co-starter" alongside Mike Weber. This is following Urban's announcement that Mike Weber is cleared to return this week from a strained hamstring during fall camp.

An interesting developing for a team with a returning/incumbent 1096 yard (6.0 ypc) rusher, but not surprising given Dobbins's performance in his first career start (205 total yards; 6.24 ypc). Good thing Don Brown and co. will have plenty of film on both running backs by November 25th.

evenyoubrutus

September 7th, 2017 at 7:26 AM ^

Meanwhile we have three guys who are all getting significant carries and will have an opportunity to make a big impact. If Weber fades it will be really hard to not feel some schadenfreude for a guy who said such an inane comment about Michigan when he committed to OSU.

BoFlex

September 7th, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^

I think Weber said that Harbaugh implied that he was Michigan's only target at RB for that year. Something about Harbaugh telling Weber that he was Michigan's top priority at RB, and they really only wanted him for that class. So technically just tell Weber that if they could choose to take 1 RB in the class it would be him, but never directly saying they weren't looking at other RBs too.

I doubt Harbaugh ever directly said that they weren't targeting anyone else, but was probably heaping on a ton of praise onto Weber that could be interpreted as such by an 17 year old.

FreddieMercuryHayes

September 7th, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^

I mean, that happens.  OSU is big time football and all places are earned.  We've seen it a hundred times, and we've seen the same here at UM.  Weber is a good back and I wish UM had him.  Difference is I think at OSU he'll get less carries.  They split distribution among ball carriers amoung different playmakers including their slot and QB, unlike UM that can sustain, and needs, a three RB rotation.  He'll still see carries, but I can see them drop precipitously.  Dobbins reminded me a lot of Mike Hart actually.  Short, stout, power, lack of top end speed, but man, he can find the smallest of holes and juke a guy in a phone book.  Should be interesting to see how he progresses.  With Meyer, OSU's run game has always been an efficent monster no matter who is back there.  They find a way to move the ball on the ground no matter who is carrying it.

CoverZero

September 7th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^

Dobbins is much quicker than Weber and has a better 10 yrd burst.  I still did not see massive top end speed from Dobbins though...however that does not matter much in college football.

maize-blue

September 7th, 2017 at 10:31 AM ^

OSU only wanted Weber to keep him away from UM. They lied to get him there and will discard him once they find a better replacement. 

MileHighWolverine

September 7th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^

It's strange he claimed he didn't want to be at UofM because we took Higdon but if you look at OSU, they recruit incredible RBs almost every year. He went to a place where he was GUARANTEED to face stiff competition because he MIGHT face some here? 

ColeIsCorky

September 7th, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^

He looked pretty dang fast... but it's hard to run a 4.42 when you're waiting patiently for blocks and constantly juking guys out of their shoes or blowing linebackers up. Never seen a guy run a 4.42 while in the midst of plowing through a linebacker or mid-juke before. The times he did hit top speed, I couldn't deny the speed. First thing I noticed about the kid was how fast he was, and then he broke a tackle while straight up running over a guy that weighed 50 pounds more than him. For a freshman especially, the kid is a beast.