Fantasy managers expected the Los Angeles Chargers to run the football often under new head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman, which has made J.K. Dobbins a big fantasy producer through the first two games of the 2024 NFL season.
Should fantasy managers take this opportunity to sell high on Dobbins’s fast start to the season or hold onto Dobbins as a potential league winner at the RB position?
Should You Sell High on J.K. Dobbins After His Fast Start to the 2024 NFL Season?
Dobbins’s durability concerns are well-documented at this point. During the first four years of his NFL career, the Ohio State product saw two of his seasons cut short due to season-ending injuries.
The multitude of devastating injuries has led to fantasy managers severely underestimating his fantasy upside entering the 2024 NFL season, which is proving to be one of the biggest mistakes of the young season.
Dobbins burst onto the scene with an impressive 22.9 fantasy point debut in Week 1 with 135 rushing yards and a score on just 10 carries to go with an additional three receptions for four yards.
Dobbins looked like the preferred option over Gus Edwards by seeing 59% of the snaps in Week 1.
Well, this trend continued in Week 2 with Dobbins producing 131 rushing yards and a score on 17 carries in the Chargers’ blowout win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 2.
For some additional perspective, Edwards was outproduced for a second straight game by a significant margin. Edwards produced just 59 rushing yards on 18 carries, which marks the second straight week where Edwards saw more carries than Dobbins, but finished with 70+ fewer rushing yards.
Yet, this is why Dobbins should be considered a sell-high candidate entering Week 3 of the NFL season.
The Chargers have started the season by playing two of the weakest offensive units in the league — Raiders and Panthers — which has helped generate ideal game scripts for Los Angeles to lean heavily on the running game.
Los Angeles should have a decent matchup for another run-heavy game script against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they will run into the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 — which could be a problem establishing a favorable situation for the Chargers to feed two ball carriers over 15 carries in the same game if Patrick Mahomes generates points early in the game.
In fact, that line of thinking is really the entire thought process behind potentially offloading Dobbins after two consecutive 100+ yard rushing performances.
I am of the opinion that you should attempt to offload him at a low end RB1 price, but if you can’t get that for him… then I’m more than willing to hold onto Dobbins this year — who is in a great offensive situation in an offense heavily committed to running the football in 2024.