Former Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins is headed west.
Dobbins is planning to sign a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, his agency LAA Sports confirmed to The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday evening. The move reunites the 2020 second-round draft pick out of Ohio State with his former offensive coordinator in Baltimore, Greg Roman, who was hired by the Chargers for the same role in February.
The 25-year-old running back is just the latest former Raven to migrate to Los Angeles.
Running back Gus Edwards, fullback Ben Mason, tight end Hayden Hurst and center Bradley Bozeman all joined the Chargers after previously playing in Baltimore. Former Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz bolted for Los Angeles earlier this year as well, taking over as the team’s general manager, while Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s younger brother Jim was named the Chargers’ coach in January.
Though his Ravens career ended unceremoniously, Dobbins was one of the NFL’s most efficient running backs when healthy, rushing for 1,347 yards and 12 touchdowns on 234 carries across three seasons. But over the past three years, he has been sidelined for 42 of 51 games because of injuries, including 16 games last year after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 1. Dobbins missed all of 2021 after tearing the ACL, LCL and meniscus in his left knee, along with his hamstring, in the preseason finale, and he missed half of 2022 after another knee surgery.
Last year, after he sat out of team drills for three weeks at the start of training camp and expressed his displeasure over the lack of a contract extension, Dobbins hit the practice field in mid-August and said that he felt 100% healthy for the first time in three years. He also said he wanted to finish his career in Baltimore.
“I do think that healthy, I can be one of the top backs in the league,” Dobbins said at the time. “I just gotta prove it and I am gonna prove it. One day, one day it will happen.”
But after catching a short pass early in the third quarter of the season opener against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium, he suffered a torn Achilles as he was tackled short of the end zone.
Dobbins missed the remainder of the season, and the Ravens moved on this offseason by signing four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry.
Still, when Dobbins has been on the field, he has been effective. His career average of 5.8 yards per carry is the highest among running backs with at least 200 carries since 2020.
Now, he’ll join his former backfield mate Edwards, as well as third-year back Isaiah Spiller and reserves Elijah Dotson and Jaret Patterson, as he tries to rekindle his career yet again. The Ravens are set to play the Chargers in SoFi Stadium next season.
