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Prior to his injury, JK Dobbins was emerging as the Ravens top running back and had some high expectations for his sophomore season. Dobbins rushed for 805 yards and nine touchdowns in his rookie season. The Ravens surprised some people as they drafted Dobbins with their second round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft while they had Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards on the roster.
JK Dobbins’ injury
Injury suffered: Torn ACL
When it happened: August 28, 2021
In the Ravens final preseason game in 2021, Dobbins suffered a knee injury. After undergoing tests, it was reported that it was a torn ACL and he would miss the entirety of the season. At the time, the report was that it would take at least 12 months to get back on the field. It was a heart breaker for the Ravens and was one of many injuries the Ravens dealt with last season.
Latest news ahead of training camp
August 8th update: Dobbins has been removed from the PUP list, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This is good news for Dobbin’s shot at playing Week 1.
Dobbins recently was placed on the PUP list to start training camp, but that doesn't rule him out for Week 1 just yet. That just means he won't be practicing to start training camp. After being placed on the PUP list, Ian Rapoport reported that Dobbins was no sure thing of being back for Week 1 as his injury was serious and the Ravens protected themselves by signing Mike Davis.
Dobbins was frustrated by that responding to the report with “Okay I’m tired of being quiet… come to me for your source @RapSheet because I might not even go on PUP because that’s how good my rehab is going and I’m damn sure going to be ready for week”. While it’s unknown exactly when Dobbins will be back, he seems confident he’ll be good to go for Week 1.
2022 Fantasy football outlook
Athletes often have early struggles coming back from a torn ACL injury. When fully healthy, Dobbins is a beast and has a phenomenal future in the NFL. This season, he may get off to a slow start his first few weeks back. But once he starts getting normal touches and slowly back to normal, I think we will see him put up big numbers. With the Ravens offense reportedly returning to its 2019 form, we will see them run the ball a ton, and Dobbins will play a big role in that. If you can draft Dobbins as a reserve fantasy running back first few weeks, that could be great value a few weeks into the season.