I won't own Dobbins, due to his price, but just doing some ranking maintenance and wanted to add the following:
Once Dobbins came back from his injury last year, from week 14,15,16,17, and WC (5 games) he averaged:
14/92/0.2 + 1.4/1/9.2/.2 which is a 17 game pace of:
238/1560/3 + 24/17/156/4 which is 229 fantasy points. (RB12 overall last year)
13.5ppg would be RB17.
And just for good measure...
From weeks 11-DP (8 games) after he broke out in 2020 he averaged:
12/72/1 + 1.25/.875/9/0 which is a 17 game pace of:
204/1232/17 + 21/15/163/0 which is 256 fantasy points. (RB7 overall last year)
15.0ppg would be RB11.
Combine these 13 games together, average them, and project them to 17 games we get...
217/1358/12 + 22/15/160/1 = 246 total fantasy points (RB10) and 14.5ppg (RB14)
You don't have to be a pass catcher to be valuable, although it is definitely easier.
But Lynch, Henry, and Chubb, have been top 10 fantasy RBs for years without needing to be heavily involved in the pass game.
And when you average 6 yards per carry, it takes a lot less volume to accumulate those yards like the previous 3 backs mentioned needed.
Combine that with Dobbin's past TD success (7 of his 8 games as a rookie (in this sample) he had at least 1 TD.
He's currently RB17 on Yahoo and slipping to the 4/5 wrap of 12 team leagues at the moment. Given his injury history I'm a bit surprised he's this expensive, but he clearly has a path to top 10 production, even without pass catching. So if this new offense involves him in that aspect, he could easily pay dividends on his current price. But at the 4/5 wrap I'd much rather just be stacking other positions personally. But for people who are looking for a RB, and who don't think his past injuries would classify him as 'injury prone' then I think you can easily justify drafting him there.
Looks like a clump of... Walker, Sanders, Akers, Pierce, Mattison, Dobbins, and then Conner.
I'd give the upside to Akers, Mattison, and Conner as those 3 have clear paths to 3 down workhorse roles for their teams. Can they stay healthy and be productive all year? Your guess is as good as mine. Walker, Sanders, and Dobbins are more 2 down backs to me. Pierce... man I loved Pierce last year, and I would bet on his talent to my 'eye', but the Singletary signing and that offense as a whole, has the most question marks of this group. I think Carolina is a worse looking team than the Texans though.