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Must have in Devy Leagues: Jonathan Taylor RB Wisc & J K Dobbins RB OSU (1 Viewer)

JohnnyU

Footballguy
You should try and get one of these freshman RBs in your devy leagues if possible.

Jonathan Taylor RB Wisconsin - 1600+ yds, 7.0 avg, 12 TDs - 5' 11" 214

J K Dobbins - 1089 yds, 7.3 avg 6 TDs - 5' 10" 208

Both are two of the best RBs in the country and both are freshman.

 
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You're mistaken on Taylor.  He was a middling 3 star prospect with his top offers being Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Boston College.  Personally I don't think he is a dynamic talent and is benefiting largely from the scheme and OLine of Wisconsin like many RBs before him.  Lots of young RBs I would target in devy leagues before him 

 
You're mistaken on Taylor.  He was a middling 3 star prospect with his top offers being Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Boston College.  Personally I don't think he is a dynamic talent and is benefiting largely from the scheme and OLine of Wisconsin like many RBs before him.  Lots of young RBs I would target in devy leagues before him 
Not so sure about that.  He looks very good to me and it's not as if all his holes are so big you could drive a truck through them.  He has excellent vision.  It's a big mistake to compare him to previous Wisconsin RBs and the Wisconsin system.  Having said that, I prefer Dobbins over Taylor right now.

 
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J.K. Dobbins vs. Jonathan Taylor: Who is better?

Ohio State entered the season with a player that many thought could be the best freshman running back in the country in J.K. Dobbins.

Through seven games, he has not disappointed. 

But now, there is a question as to whether or not Dobbins is the best freshman running back in his own conference.

That’s because in Wisconsin, Jonathan Taylor has been a dominant force as well.

So who is better?

Through seven games, Dobbins has rushed 100 times for 775 yards and five touchdowns. 

Taylor has 127 carries for 986 yards and 10 touchdowns after six games.

Both backs are averaging 7.8 yards per carry this season.

And on paper, Taylor has better stats, which means he should be better.

But diving deeper into the numbers, it tells a different story.

Ohio State has ran 53.1 percent of the time compared to 69.3 percent for Wisconsin. Taylor gets 44.3 percent of his team’s carries, and Dobbins has just 34.4 percent.

If the averages are the same, you can presume that if Ohio State ran more than 53.1 percent of the time, Dobbins could be close to 1,000 yards already.

Dobbins also has seven catches for 65 yards compared to just one catch for 17 yards from Taylor.

So who’s better?

I think Dobbins is the more versatile back and more athletic. It’s harder to tell since he is not heavily leaned on, but he probably has a higher ceiling than Taylor. So for now, my personal opinion is Dobbins, but it’s close.

I also don’t think it matters, because both are great fits for their current teams. 

Taylor is a powerful runner who finds holes behind Wisconsin’s offensive line. Dobbins is more explosive, bursting through with his combination of jump cuts and acceleration.

By Tim Bielik, cleveland.com

 
when/how do you draft?
In all of my leagues we draft after the NFL draft and draft in May.  In the 3 devy leagues I'm in two of them include rookies and devy players and in the other one we separate the rookie draft and devy draft (underclassman / not NFL draft eligible) into two drafts.

 
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whats a devy league, old timer?
A dynasty league where instead of only being able to draft incoming rookies you can draft any player, be it high school or college who is then carried on your taxi squad until he makes it to the NFL at which time you either add him to your roster or release him. 

 
A dynasty league where instead of only being able to draft incoming rookies you can draft any player, be it high school or college who is then carried on your taxi squad until he makes it to the NFL at which time you either add him to your roster or release him. 
I'm sure some leagues allow you to carry high school players in a devy league but not those I play in.  He must at least be a freshman in college.  

 
Dobbins is a stud.  We don't draft incoming freshman so he'll be #1 on my list next spring.  Haven't seen Taylor yet but he wasn't a very highly ranked recruit.  Not the end-all as Barkley was just a low or mid 4 star recruit depending on the ranking system and Bryce Love, Josh Adams, and Kamryn Pettway are some names that were ranked similarly and Myles Gaskin was a solid 3 star as well.  Sometimes these guys just develop a little later.

 
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Dobbins is a stud.  We don't draft incoming freshman so he'll be #1 on my list next spring.  Haven't seen Taylor yet but he wasn't a very highly ranked recruit.  Not the end-all as Barkley was just a low or mid 4 star recruit depending on the ranking system and Bryce Love, Josh Adams, and Kamryn Pettway are some names that were ranked similarly and Myles Gaskin was a solid 3 star as well.  Sometimes these guys just develop a little later.
I've seen many 5 star recruits never amount to anything.  I would put more stock in what the do once in college than what they did in high school.

 
You're mistaken on Taylor.  He was a middling 3 star prospect with his top offers being Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Boston College.  Personally I don't think he is a dynamic talent and is benefiting largely from the scheme and OLine of Wisconsin like many RBs before him.  Lots of young RBs I would target in devy leagues before him 
Taylor could well break the NCAA record for rushing yards as a freshman. He is currently third, behind Ron Dayne and Adrian Peterson.

Maybe any old middling 3 star prospect could have done that, but I'm skeptical.

 
Taylor could well break the NCAA record for rushing yards as a freshman. He is currently third, behind Ron Dayne and Adrian Peterson.

Maybe any old middling 3 star prospect could have done that, but I'm skeptical.
I was correcting the OP who called Taylor a 5 star prospect, which was not remotely accurate.  I certainly think Taylor has proven to be better than a middling 3 star but you have to take into consideration the Wisconsin rushing attack.  Montee Ball put up back to back 1800+ yard rushing seasons, Brian Calhoun ran for 1600+, Ron Dayne had two 2000+ yard rushing seasons and none of them amounted to much in the NFL.  I've seen Taylor play multiple times this year and nothing he does jumps off the screen to me to warrant a high pick in a devy league 

 
I've seen many 5 star recruits never amount to anything.  I would put more stock in what the do once in college than what they did in high school.
Thus why I referred to a bunch of lower star guys that exceeded their ratings...

 
Thanks for the thread JohnnyU and also interesting discussion from those responding.

I have seen both players a bit. I have seen Taylor more than Dobbins as my area usually has Wisconsin games on, I tend to avoid Ohio State games because they are so often one sided, one of the things I can't really get past when it comes to watching college football.

From what I have seen of Taylor he has a pretty well rounded skill set.  I tend to give Wisconsin RB a bit of a stink eye because of their history, but he does look pretty good to me despite that. In the last game I watched of Wisconsin I was trying to compare him to previous RB from there recently, and I do like him more than Montee Ball or James White, but he doesn't seem quite as explosive as Melvin Gordon. Not that Taylor isn't good, but I think Gordon has some pretty special burst and acceleration, that I wouldn't put Taylor at his level at this time.

I can see Taylor being a NFL RB though.

I only saw Dobbins for a few plays before I switched to another game. So I don't have much of an opinion about him. If you are going to consider Wisconsins offensive line as a benefit skewing their RB performance though (I do) then you have to apply that to Ohio State who has even better recruiting and usually better players across the board than any college team not Alabama. Just don't tell Iowa that.  :P

 
I just took J K Dobbins 1.01 over Jonathan Taylor and Bryce Love in a devy league.  The other devys already on rosters are:  Cam Akers, Dekalyin Metcalf, L J Scott, Demetrius Robertson, Najee Harris, N'Keal Harry, Trayveon Williams, Damien Harris, Myles Gaskins, Joshua Jacobs, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Mike Weber, Jalen Hurd, Eligah Holyfield,  2018 draft eligible rookies aren't eligible for the devy draft.  We hold our rookie draft later in the spring and some of the 2018 rookies are already on rosters as well and were taken as devys in previous years.

 
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I just took J K Dobbins 1.01 over Jonathan Taylor and Bryce Love in a devy league.  The other devys already on rosters are:  Cam Akers, Dekalyin Metcalf, L J Scott, Demetrius Robertson, Najee Harris, N'Keal Harry, Trayveon Williams, Damien Harris, Myles Gaskins, Joshua Jacobs, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Mike Weber, Jalen Hurd, Eligah Holyfield,  2018 draft eligible rookies aren't eligible for the devy draft.  We hold our rookie draft later in the spring and some of the 2018 rookies are already on rosters as well and were taken as devys in previous years.
Jonathan Taylor just went 1.02.  I expect Bryce Love to go next.  I believe I would have taken Love over Taylor, but that's just me.

 
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How does Dobbins compare to this years rookie crop? I have 1.01 in devy/rookie draft and best non-rostered rookie right now looks like Penny. Thinking of taking Dobbins at 1, with Akers and Harris already rostered.

 
How does Dobbins compare to this years rookie crop? I have 1.01 in devy/rookie draft and best non-rostered rookie right now looks like Penny. Thinking of taking Dobbins at 1, with Akers and Harris already rostered.
Post the devy/rookie players already rostered.

 
Darnold, Freeman, Chubb, Barkley, E. St. Brown, D. Harris, Sutton, Ballage, R. Jones, Cain, Kirk, J.Allen, Washington, Michel, Scarbrough, Akers, LJ Scott, N.Harris, Harry, Guice, Tate, Peoples-Jones, A.Richards, Metcalf, Ridley.

 
Darnold, Freeman, Chubb, Barkley, E. St. Brown, D. Harris, Sutton, Ballage, R. Jones, Cain, Kirk, J.Allen, Washington, Michel, Scarbrough, Akers, LJ Scott, N.Harris, Harry, Guice, Tate, Peoples-Jones, A.Richards, Metcalf, Ridley.
Looks like you're down to Dobbins, and Taylor.  I prefer Dobbins.

 
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Taylor is getting all the love and rightfully so, but Dobbins is off to a great start as well.  92/654/5/7.1.  I think Dobbins is flying under the radar in what looks like a great 2020 RB class.

 
Dobbins got the better of Taylor today.  Dobbins with 162 yards and 2 TDs on 20 carries. Taylor was held to 52 yards on 20 carries.

 
I am no scout but when I watch Dobbins play he seems slow...but he ends up outrunning people. I will be curious on how he tests at the combine.

 
Looks like Dobbins is catching up to Jonathan Taylor in the minds of dynasty owners.  Who I take  will depend on landing spot.

 
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Looks like Dobbins is catching up to Jonathan Taylor in the minds of dynasty owners.  I believe I would still take Taylor first, but a lot will depend on landing spot.
I honestly think I would take Dobbins as my 1.01 in 1 QB leagues at this point.  Obviously landing spot will factor in but I love his skill set.  I would have Taylor as my RB5 at this point (Dobbins, Swift, Akers, Etienne, Taylor).  

 
Taylor's issue will be the amount of fumbles he had over his 3 years in college.  He showed he can catch this year though.

Dobbins had a down '18 correct?  Came back strong this year, esp late.  

I think they both will test well.  I'm sitting on Taylor & Swift in my devy league.  Would be just as happy with Etienne or Dobbins.  

 
To be honest I think this is the hardest to pick first 6 in ppr leagues EVER

Swift,  Dobbins, Etienne, Taylor, Jeudy, Lamb

 
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To be honest I think this is the hardest to pick first 6 in ppr leagues EVER

Swift,  Dobbins, Etienne, Taylor, Jeudy, Lamb
I’m going Swift, Dobbins, Eitenne, Taylor and Lamb with the 1st five picks unless KC drafts Akers, Harris, CEH, or Hill. Then my plan will be screwed!

 I keep asking myself are all these guys really the studs they appear to be or will one or two flop?!?!?

Tex

 
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I’m going Swift, Dobbins, Eitenne, Taylor and Lamb with the 1st five picks unless KC drafts Akers, Harris, CEH, or Hill. Then my plan will be screwed!

 I keep asking myself are all these guys really the studs they appear to be or will one or two flop?!?!?

Tex
If history tells us anything, of course some will flop, or at the very least disappoint. 

 
To be honest I think this is the hardest to pick first 6 in ppr leagues EVER

Swift,  Dobbins, Etienne, Taylor, Jeudy, Lamb
Yeah this is my top 6 as well and I agree they’re very difficult to separate out. Right now I have Taylor as my solid #6 guy so that leaves a clustered top 5 for me in ppr. I have 3 picks in the top 6 in a rebuild so it’ll be fun to figure this out. 

 
To be honest I think this is the hardest to pick first 6 in ppr leagues EVER

Swift,  Dobbins, Etienne, Taylor, Jeudy, Lamb
It's even worse in Superflex throwing Burrow and Tua  into the mix with that group. 

I have 4 top 7 picks in a league, feeling like in will have a shot at 4 1.01 type of talents. 

I don't think any of them are generational Calvin Johnson type talents, but there are a lot of really good players. 

 
Yeah this is my top 6 as well and I agree they’re very difficult to separate out. Right now I have Taylor as my solid #6 guy so that leaves a clustered top 5 for me in ppr. I have 3 picks in the top 6 in a rebuild so it’ll be fun to figure this out. 
I think this is the first time in ever that we have a problem deciding who to draft is actually a great problem to have especially when you have multiple top 5-6 picks. 
 

And if someone like Akers, Moss or third tier RB goes to Indy, Pitt, Houston or Seattle it only makes this draft that much more deeper.

Tex

 
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With all the news lately of Etienne, Harris, Hubbard and some WR's I wanted to take a closer look at Taylor vs Dobbins.  I had 2 players in my 2nd tier and now I just have Dobbins by himself (probably incorrectly), with Taylor starting my next tier.  

Dobbins seems to have better vision and he runs with a looseness to his movement which allows for easier transition from move to move.  

Taylor on the other hand has better feet with a better o-line and runs with really good strength, oddly enough not as much with his leg drive, but more so with his balance being really good. 

Taylor looks faster as well but I worry he's o-line and fullback dependent.  So based on that I should have Taylor higher right?  Both had top10 offensive line's as well, Taylor's actually being worse by PFF grades.  

I think a lot of my view on them will come down to athleticism and draft capital.  Don't dislike either one, don't particularly love either one, but my initial eval was Dobbins is the better player.  

 

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