I might have missed it, but how do they compare against defenses stacking up to stop the run, because Coan and the Wisc WRs literally wouldn’t scare my local high school team. Nothing else really matters when a team has only 1 thing to worry about. Plus, you ignored that Fields is an actual threat to run the ball and Coan isn’t at all, so that also takes attention and pressure off JK on 3rd and shorts. ALLLLLLLL of the focus was on Taylor on damn near every play. JK was one of 5 high powered weapons. Taylor was the only one to worry about.
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Some really good takes in this thread!
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I’ve brought this up before. I think people fail to realize the stacked front Taylor faced in every game. Opponents knew that Taylor was their only real weapon yet they couldn’t stop him.
Look at the fronts Dobbins faces compared to Taylor. Count the number of players in the box. Taylor saw stacked fronts on nearly every play.
I think Dobbins will be the 3rd or 4th RB off the board.
I won’t be shocked if Taylor goes in round one. If he’s on the board at 35 I hope the Lions pull the trigger but they may not even get the chance.
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James White
Montee Ball
Not to mention the great Brian Calhoun … lol
But I’d gladly to a James White or Melvin Gordon type of RB.
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Here is the other thing about this draft too. How do you draft a running back without knowing measurables? I really want to know how athletic Dobbins is. I’ve watched him play for three years, so I have a bit of an idea. But not having the numbers is weird. If Dobbins ran a low 4.4 with a 40 inch vert its totally different than if he runs a 4.6 with a 33" vert to me. I know I know measurables aren’t everything but they are something.
Yes agreed Fields is a distraction, but Fields if he ran, he was shooting a gap on a RO and not RPO …
These weapons for Ohio State at WR are who exactly ?Three of the top four WR’s for Ohio State in 2019 all Seniors… entered the draft this year and the best of the bunch in K.J. Hill will be lucky to stick as a Back Up somewhere .
When Dobbins is running the ball you know exactly what you are going to get week in week out…Dobbins inside zone ,Dobbins, Mid Zone, Dobbins outside zone …no lead blocker , not a specific gap runner, his talent vs your talent , he picks his spot.
…Wisconsin’s run game is so much more then that…Game plans around Taylor and rushing the ball …
Wisconsin has an entire list of different gap schemes they run , pulling linemen, Guards on some plays , Tackles on another, or both Tackle & Guard pulling . Tight ends as lead blockers then it’s an inside zone or a lead ISO with a FB… a lot of different personnel groupings, multiple formations shotgun , under center, no huddle.
The confusion created by Wisconsin’s run game and the match ups they schemed to get for Taylor were huge advantages for Taylor as a RB .
Be a nice pick up in 3rd round or so? Not sure his true value. Possibly higher?
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J.K Dobbins was a 99th percentile athlete when tested by Nike when entering Ohio State …He ran a electronically timed 4.45 40-yard dash with a 4.09 20 yard shuttle & a 43 inch vertical Jump
Nike tested Okudah the same day as well, he ran a 4.49 40-yard dash with a 4.03 20 yd shuttle and a 41 inch vertical. All matching his combine numbers
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NYL, you are in a bit deep with OSU in my opinion. I watch a lot more football than just my team and their opponents.
To simplify things, OSU to a man is light years ahead of Wisconsin talent wise. Whether you think KJ HIll, Olave, Victor are NFL pro bowlers doesn’t matter. The fact is, they are WAY better than anything Wisconsin is rolling out there. Jack Coan is not in the same stratosphere as Fields.
Bottom line, Wisconsin is as 1 dimensional as any team in America. OSU is as versatile as any team in America. It’s a major difference, yet the 2 RBs ended up with the same production.
Lions fans should want a RB who is put in stupidly obvious run situations and still moves the chains. Give me that guy.
Wisconsin with a just a decent RB wins like 5 games.
OSU with just a decent RB still wins 13 games.
That’s the difference in my mind.
Thanks for that, knew what Dobbins did. I didn’t know that Okudah’s numbers matched his combine. Gives much more credence to Dobbins Nike results
Yes I agree …Cam Akers RB on the same day as Dobbins and Okudah,… Cam ran a 4.45 forty which was .2 faster then his 2020 combine 4.47
Makes me wanna puke, another slow nothing special RB he will fit right in.
Akers is intriguing, but not sure about his vision. His Oline makes it even harder to evaluate that.
I’m one who is big on vision. Ty Johnson is fast, good size etc, but poor vision. I’m confident Swift/Dobbins/Taylor vision is good. Visionwise in that order. Each brings a little different skill set, but all have the vision to go with the skill.
I think Akers is held to the next tier in part due to poor Oline play, and part questions of his vision.
Thats the right place round wise, 3rd or 4th. I’d approve of this. He’s an agile bowling ball. Has 700 carries on the tires already. That’d be my concern. I tend to believe the 4.52 pro day 40 time versus the 4.65 combine time.
Moss reminds me of Kareem Hunt.
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Thanks for posting that. I like running backs who post 40" verticals (or greater). I find it correlates quite well with success in the pros. Makes sense seeing how it measures explosiveness. This makes me feel better about Dobbins. As does the 40. I suspected he was fast enough just by some of his breakaways, but this confirms.
And admittedly I’m torn on him. His freshman year I was jumping up and down for him to play more, as I was not a Mike Weber fan, and you could tell this guy was better. Then the next year he took a dive. He was injured though. But he just didn’t have it, IMO.
This year was awesome, however.
I watch a lot more Football then just my team as well …I’m to deep into OSU ?
OSU happens to have arguably the best CB prospect , DE Prospect & RB Prospect this year coming out …
Of course I’m deep in on Ohio State 2020 players …This was not the case in 2019 or any other year . My take on Ohio players has nothing to do with them being OS players …
You can try to simplify things to suit what you say but it does not make it so … Wisconsin had better talent on the Offensive Line, a diverse run game and as one dimensional as you want to pretend Wisconsin was …they just weren’t . If 63.5% for Wisconsin is one dimensional for percentage of run plays ran in 2019…what is 62.2% for Ohio State ?
Wisconsin fielded the best WR in Quintez Cephus on both teams and the best TE in Jake Ferguson …
Lions Fans should want a RB like Dobbins that knows how to hold onto the ball and one that thrived in zone running concepts …
Taylor totaled 18 fumbles in his 3 years and I’ts not like he fixed his fumbling issues either …Taylor had 4 fumbles in his last 5 games in 2019…His last 5 games to close out his College career , 112 rushes, 4 fumbles, a fumble every 28 carries… That is atrocious and was 1 fumble shy of Dobbins career 3 year career fumbles total of 5.
I like Taylor but I could care less how many games he won , or how many games they would win without him…winning games has nothing to do with what we are talking about …The talent both teams had in regards to running the ball O-line, scheme, talent are not what you claim .
Yep you’ve brought this up before… as others have and it has not been backed up by you or anyone else …I think those that think this way (Helen Keller Pundits Included) , fail to realize that these loaded boxes that Taylor supposedly faces are usually and mostly done by design of the Wisconsin Offense .
If Wisconsin comes out in 21 , 22 or even 31 personnel (2RB’s , 1TE / 2 RB’s, 2 TE’s or 3RB’s, 1 TE) personnel and Taylor sees a 8, 9 or even 10 man fronts with an extra defender , this is hat on hat football …Wisconsin is running tons of plays with 1 or 2 WR’s & often with 2 WR’s on one side of the formation .
This is not Defenses loading up extra attention on Taylor in the box…Taylor is not running out of 11 personnel all game with 8 men in the box to stop Taylor …When 11 personnel is used it is often done to pass and used less frequently to run from and used less then 21/22 personnel in total plays ran … When in 11 personnel teams are not selling out with man coverage & no Safety help in order to stop the run .
After you posted that, read a bunch of articles about Moss. Seems a bit underrated. Sounds like a hybrid of Theo Riddick and Marshawn Lynch. Apparently, very good at pass protection. I’d be ok with Moss at 67 (or if the Lions pick up 56 from Miami in a trade down).
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I’ll be honest, I hadn’t watched much of Jonathan Taylor other than the games against Michigan or the ESPN highlights of him every week.
He’s definitely the real deal, he has a second gear that most RB’s just don’t have.
Personally, I don’t care as much as to what offense a team runs or who else is on a RB’s team. If you just watch a RB and see how slippery he is and how many guys he makes miss tackles, this is a better measure of how good they are…and JT is better than Dobbins in this respect. There’s plays where JT makes 4-5 guys miss and if you watch his highlight reel, you see him take hand-offs in a single-back, with a full-back, out of shotgun, out of the slot on an end-around…this just tells me that he’s more versatile and not just running out of some Spread offense.
I would like to see how his fumbles occurred. Are they just a product of him fighting for extra yardage or are they because he runs with the ball loose?
I like Dobbins a lot…but JT is clearly the better RB. His vision and the way he picks his way through traffic is elite.
Watch the run at the 2:40 mark, JT makes 5 guys miss him.