Former Ohio State Buckeyes star struggling to find new team despite electric bounceback season in 2024​

The life of an NFL running back is incredibly difficult. Not only do ball-carriers take an absolute beating each week, but their professional careers are as fickle as any position in the league. The free agency experience J.K. Dobbins is dealing with right now is a good snapshot of the challenges stars at the position can face.

Dobbins is by far PFF's highest-rated running back still on the market, and the 26-year-old is coming off his best season yet. The former Ohio State playmaker logged his most carries and yards and tied his previous touchdown record. An ankle injury cost him four games in 2024, but Dobbins was otherwise recovered from a 2021 ACL tear and a 2023 Achilles tear.

For several reasons, the 2019 Heisman Trophy candidate is facing an uphill battle to land a multi-year deal. Since entering the NFL, his injury history is concerning enough to limit guaranteed dollars beyond 2025. The 2025 NFL Draft class is also as deep with running backs as it ever has been.

Recently, Rico Dowdle, Aaron Jones, and Najee Harris have taken short-term deals. But those names were expected to receive solid offers, and the money they earned was respectable. What wasn't expected was seeing less-talented role players find homes before Dobbins.

Guys like AJ Dillon, Miles Sanders, Raheem Mostert, and Alexander Mattison are getting situated in new situations. A few of those guys might not even make their team's final 53-man roster. While it's a bit apples to oranges because Dobbins is surely looking to be at least a high-end No. 2 back, it's a surprising development.

There are still some openings for Dobbins, though. The AFC North is especially intriguing, as Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati could use help. Denver, Houston, and Kansas City would be nice landing spots as well. Minnesota, Los Angeles Rams, and New Orleans are top NFC fits.
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Kirk Herbstreit finally addresses strained relationship with Buckeyes fans, 'I love Ohio State'​

There's no question that Ohio State fans have turned on former Buckeyes quarterback and long-time ESPN host Kirk Herbstreit in recent years. While Ohio State fans liked that Herbstreit showed slight favoritism toward his alma mater, they also appreciated that he never became a shameless shill to the program like Desmond Howard is for Michigan.

However, this past year or two brought a different tone amongst Ohio State fans. Herbstreit was more direct in his criticism of the fan base last year, calling them a "lunatic fringe" when calling for head coach Ryan Day's job after a fourth-straight loss to the Wolverines.

Herbstreit's plea for patience was proven correct, but the gap between the program's most passionate fans and the former team captain felt as wide as ever. The fact his son, Chase, walked onto the Michigan football team didn't help things.

On the “Built 4 More” podcast, Herbstreit was asked about calling games for the Buckeyes and his approach to covering the team in general. The host asked whether he's "dying" during Ohio State games and whether his heart pulls him one way or another.

“I’m not dying. It’s like I flip a switch during the game. When you put so much work into something with your prep, [it’s necessary]… If you’re just going to ask me ‘Am I a fan?’ Oh my God.

I love Ohio State. I was a captain there. My dad was a captain there. Just the way I grew up,” remarked Kirk Herbstreit. “But when I call their games they’re a team, and the other team’s a team. I’m there to give analytical viewpoints. Try to give the viewer at home kind of the ‘how’ and the ‘why’.

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When pressed about the tension between him and the Buckeyes' faithful, Herbstreit knows his objectivity and ability to take that perspective is causing frustration.

"I know Ohio State’s fan base is probably as loud as any fan base in the country on social media, and a lot of that fraction are not fans of mine. Because I am fair. Because I am, you know, objective.”
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Ohio State elite defender’s admission about his position change shows just the player he is for the Buckeyes​

Ohio State’s 2024 team was loaded with returning talent plus the players that they went out and got in the portal.

A transfer portal haul that consisted of Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins, Will Howard, and Seth McLaughlin was huge for the Buckeyes and accomplishing their big goal.

Downs coming in and being the team’s top safety paired with great unselfishness from LB Sonny Styles was huge for the defense. Styles made the switch from safety to linebacker and it paid off big time.

“My thing was where on the defense do I fit, where I can help the team win,” Styles said in a recent sitdown interview with The Podcast. “ [It is] where I can be at my best and I felt like it was no question that being a linebacker was going to help me and help the team. So, it was a double win, there was really no convincing.”

Bringing in Downs played a part in the switch, but so is the transformation of Styles himself. The Pickerington native came in as a 6-foot-4, 215-pound safety for the Buckeyes as a five-star player in the class of 2022. Now, Styles is up to 235 pounds and has filled out his frame.

“The season got over, I saw Caleb come in, I seen the defense we had. I was like, ‘Why would I not play WILL?’.”

Styles recorded 100 tackles, six sacks, and a forced fumble in 16 games in 2024. Styles made 53 tackles and two sacks the previous season as a safety.

“I’m excited I made the move. I feel much more comfortable at linebacker than I did at safety,” Styles explained. “It’s like my abilities can flourish more at the position.”

Making the switch to James Laurinaitis’ unit has helped Styles blossom into a terrific player. He is a prime candidate to wear the “Block O” in 2025, as well as being a team captain.

Skull Session: Evan Turner Buried Michigan 15 Years Ago, Greg Oden and Mike Conley Almost Went to Wake Forest and Bryce Underwood Tells LeBron James “It’s Over for Ohio State”​

On choosing Ohio State over Wake Forest​

“If Chris Paul was gonna say at Wake Forest, I probably would have went with Mike to Wake Forest. I would say that. But Chris Paul left for the league. Mike wanted to go there and play with Chris Paul, but Chris Paul leaves. … It wasn’t etched in stone (that I would go where Mike went), but we had a good visit down there at Wake Forest. I’ll put it like that. It was a good time. Nah, I will say this, though. When we went to the Texas-Ohio State football game, just seeing that atmosphere on that visit and seeing what that city was, I think we all kind of were like, ‘Alright, this is it. This is where we want to be at.’ But I think Wake Forest was definitely a very, very close second.”

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On Ohio State’s loss to Florida in the national title game​

“Going up against Florida, as you all know, Taurean Green, Corey Brewer, (Lee) Humphrey, Al (Horford), Joakim (Noah), Chris Richard coming off the bench, Marreese Speights a freshman. … They’re arguably one of the best college basketball teams in history. Actually, they have to be top five because there are only three or four of them that actually went back-to-back. If we hit a couple more threes, I would like to say I hope we had a better chance. But f— everybody that does the Gator Chomp. That s— hurts my soul to this day. I’m a grown a— man, but when I see the Gator Chomp, I see a tear. I’m like, ‘You know what? This some bull—.”

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On leaving Ohio State for the NBA​

“The week before I went to school, it was nothing. After the championship on Monday, going to class on Wednesday, I couldn’t make it a block without people getting out of their cars, asking for autographs, stopping to take pictures. Literally, I couldn’t make it to class. I went back to my dorm, called Coach (Matta) and I’m like, ‘I literally can’t make it to class. I’m overwhelmed.’ That’s when I knew it was about to happen.
“(But) I wanted to stay. We were that close. You think about all the times (Conley and I) won in high school, in AAU, in eighth grade. You think about our high school years, we barely lost 10 games. We probably lost three in AAU. It’s less than 15 games from sixth grade, seventh grade, up to college. I wanted to win. But I went and talked about that to Coach, and he was like, ‘Ha. Get the f— out of here.’ It was like a soft laugh. ‘He was like, ‘You can’t do that, brother. I can’t do that to your family. I can’t do that to you.’ When you’re put in this position, you have to take advantage of that. I am thankful for the people around me. My life changed after that.”

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dragurd said:

What next the fire Ferentz? Madness

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And Fran's teams could actually score!

His CFP miss wasn’t just from 50, it was from 56 yards in about 20-degree weather. It hooked and was well short, and was only tried because it was the last play of the first half, but that would have been pure bonus points from a college kicker.

The 2 misses in The Game, of course, were unacceptable. Gotta hit over 80% of kicks like those.

Since the prize money is exactly fuck all, I can live with whatever.

Commissioner’s prerogative.

And thanks for taking this on. I missed it.

Zurp said:

So... you bring up good points. But, the original point was "what he did in the CFP". And the point that he did the "minimum" is valid, but I also think he did the "maximum" (minus the FG attempt against Tennessee) in the CFP.
But you have good points. He missed a field goal against Nebraska. But, it never should have come to the field goals against Nebraska. Same with the cheaters - it never should have come to field goals. It did, and he didn't do his job in those games. So, both he and the offense failed in those games.

I was at the Marshall game, and that was weird. On one hand, it was just against Marshall. So it didn't hurt. But on the other hand, that really shouldn't happen... in the national championship game or against the shlubs. Or any other game.

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Fair enough. After reading your posts, I agree that min/max may not be the right metric. What I meant was that what he did in the CFP was simply what he's supposed to do. Five for 5 with one of them being from 50 would be better, but 4 for 5 and missing a 50 should be what's at least expected at tOSU. The fucking skunkweasels went out and found a boomer. There's no reason that we shouldn't have a kicker like that. Maybe there's some reticence that they won't get as many FG attempts with us? That seems like kind of a reach, but who knows? I think it's just been neglected. When you need a kicker, you really need him. That alone should warrant recruiting emphasis both HS and portal.

NFBuck said:

Looks like Fran McCaffery is toast.

Iowa dismisses coach McCaffery after 15 seasons

Iowa's men's basketball program dismissed McCaffery after 15 seasons as coach of the Hawkeyes, the school announced Friday.

www.espn.com

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What next the fire Ferentz? Madness

NFBuck said:

They certainly have a type.

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Locker room material is never a bad in thing. Is at TCUN only because of money, and now he is all in. Sounds legit.

I honestly was leaning towards 27 but like Heisman mentioned not having the minimum inning setting before the draft influenced some drafters. What about going with 18?

Looks like Fran McCaffery is toast.

ORD_Buckeye said:

No big surprise there. With the Ivies, Johns Hopkins etc moving back to required test scores, it was inevitable that it would filter down to the next level.

I forget which one of the Ivies it was, but they declared that the kids who didn't submit test scores had markedly worse freshman years than those who did.

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Might have been Brown (the one you least expect!), but I don't remember for sure.

I know MIT very quickly was saying that this didn't lead to better outcomes. That one I remember.

AKAK said:

Ohio State will once again require ACT/SAT testing for admissions

The university said it will not rely solely on test scores when deciding on admissions and will comprehensively review each applicant.

www.10tv.com

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No big surprise there. With the Ivies, Johns Hopkins etc moving back to required test scores, it was inevitable that it would filter down to the next level.

I forget which one of the Ivies it was, but they declared that the kids who didn't submit test scores had markedly worse freshman years than those who did.

heisman said:

Sure, but my problem is changing it after the draft. I literally read the rules and drafted accordingly. I would have drafted 2 or more starters, based on an existing minimum IP requirement.

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I actually agree with the fact that not having it set before the draft might have impacted draft results. That is another reason it set the minimum at a smaller number so that it won’t impact anyone that drafted with that strategy in mind, while at the same time, not allow someone who had their relievers get 3 saves with a 0.0 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, and 18.0 K/9 by Tuesday night sit their pitching staff the rest of the week because they think they have 4 pitching categories locked down.

NJ-Buckeye said:

View attachment 63919

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So if I'm reading this right.....Michigan's 2 options are:
1. Accept whatever punishment the NCAA hands down.....punishment that is based partially on facts without fully supporting evidence. Evidence that everybody knows exists, but nobody can prove.
2. Sue.......which will then reveal that evidence to the world, proving the NCAA's case for them

Please, for the love of justice, bring that fucking hammer down. PLEASE.