This offseason, the Washington Commanders went about the very busy process of building their offense around quarterback and 2024 NFL draft No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels.
General manager Adam Peters went out and traded for one elite offensive lineman in Laremy Tunsil and drafted another one with Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft. Peters traded for another receiving target with All-Pro Deebo Samuel. Peters also brought back one of Daniels’ favorite targets in tight end Zach Ertz on a 1-year, $6.25 million contract.
What Peters didn’t do is get a proven, veteran running back — but there’s still a chance.
ESPN’s Matt Bowen thinks there’s still a free agent out there who could be the perfect fit for the Commanders’ offense in veteran J.K. Dobbins.
Dobbins is coming off career highs of 905 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024 despite missing 4 games due to an MCL sprain. Add in 32 receptions for 153 yards and Dobbins cracked 1,000 yards of total offense for the first time in his career.
Dobbins is the top free agent running back still available, according to Sharp Football Analysis.
“In Kliff Kingsbury’s offense in Washington, I could see Dobbins providing competition for Brian Robinson Jr. as the early-down runner,” Bowen wrote on May 19. “Dobbins can run between the tackles and has the juice to create big plays on the ground. He took 27 carries for 10 or more yards last season.”
Dobbins is also an economically viable option. He played last season on a 1-year, $1.61 million contract. The Commanders would be smart to start with an offer in that ballpark and not go up much from there.
Injuries Have Derailed Dobbins’ Promising Career
It’s kind of a miracle that Dobbins was able to play as well as he did in 2024 or his career is even in a place where he’s being discussed as a possible option for a contender. Most players who have suffered a series of injuries like his might be out of football entirely.
After rushing for over 2,000 yards and scoring 23 total touchdowns in his final season at Ohio State in 2019, Dobbins was a second round pick (No. 54 overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2020 NFL draft and got off to a solid start as a rookie with 805 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns while averaging 6.0 yards per carry.
That’s when things went off the rails. Dobbins only played 9 games across the next 3 seasons. That included no games in 2021 due to an ACL tear and just 1 game in 2023 before he tore his Achilles tendon.
Injury Riddled Dobbins Still Upgrade Over Robinson
Robinson has been given 3 seasons to show he can be a featured back but the results have shown a mostly middle grade back, and one who consistently misses games due to injuries.
Robinson has missed time due to injuries over each of the last 3 seasons — 10 games in total and 4 games in 2024 — but has still rushed for over 700 yards each season. While Robinson had a career high 799 rushing yards in 2024 he continued to struggle holding onto the ball and has lost 4 fumbles over the last 2 seasons.
