Earlier this offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs hosted running back J.K. Dobbins on a free-agent visit to potentially bolster their rushing attack only to later see Dobbins sign a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. Over the weekend, Dobbins made his debut playing under head coach Jim Harbaugh and amassed over 135 rushing yards and a touchdown in the Bolts’ Week 1 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Dobbins, still just 25 years old, has dealt with multiple season-ending injuries over the last few years which has limited his effectiveness as an NFL back. However, he has always possessed the talent to be a star tailback and has even managed to find the end zone 14 times in just 25 games played.
In light of Dobbins’ incredible performance for the Chargers, it bears repeating that Dobbins was interested in signing with Kansas City—or at least reports stated that talks were productive and the signs at the time pointed to a likely deal—only for Kansas City to opt to instead bring back veteran running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire not even 24 hours after Dobbins’ free agent visit.
Edwards-Helaire now currently sits on the non-football injury list as he deals with personal issues off the field.
J.K. Dobbins seemed like a perfect fit for Kansas City at the time as a talented, inexpensive option that raised the floor of the running back room.
The Chiefs deserve credit for doing right by Edwards-Helaire, but even before his personal issues, there were questions about whether or not Kansas City should bring in a veteran running back with more upside to fill out their roster.
Dobbins seemed like a perfect fit for Kansas City as a talented and inexpensive option that raised the floor of the running back room and gave them legitimate depth. Though Dobbins has struggled with injuries, the burst and athleticism were that of a running back they didn't have on the roster. Dobbins possess the ability to make defenders miss and easily get to the second level of the defense as we saw on Sunday against the Raiders.
Funny enough, the Chiefs had the opportunity to correct the mistake of taking Edwards-Helaire over J.K. Dobbins in the 2020 NFL draft by signing him as a free agent, but once again chose the former.
Ultimately, passing on Dobbins is likely not a move that will be the difference between winning and losing, as Kansas City has since added Carson Steele and Semaje Perine to the backfield and has a cadre of young and explosive pass-catchers that fans are excited about. However, it always hurts to see a would-be free agent signing now succeeding for a division rival, and it may even come back to bite them at some point.