Heisman Rankings 2018: Top 20 Heisman Trophy candidates

The school that had dominated the headlines over the past few weeks has been Ohio State, as their famous head coach, Urban Meyer, is currently on paid administrative leave. While his status for the 2018 season is up in the air at this moment, it is looking like he will be back with the Buckeyes at some point this season, and he is coming back to one of the best teams in all of college football.

Ohio State is rated as the No. 4 team in the country heading into the 2018 campaign, and their running back is a big reason for such a high ranking. J.K. Dobbins has the opportunity to etch his name alongside some of the best running backs to ever play at the school, and this is a university that has produced the only man to win the Heisman Trophy two years in a row in Archie Griffin.

For Dobbins, his freshman season in 2017 was a record-breaking one, literally, as he broke Maurice Clarett’s single-season freshman rushing record with a mark of 1,403. He eclipsed Clarett during the Big Ten Championship Game, as he rushed for 174 yards in the Buckeyes’ win, and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

That capped the first year on campus that saw him find the end zone eight times, and on a roster that already had Mike Weber, who was not too shabby as a freshman himself in 2016, Dobbins emerged as the best player on the offense. Ohio State is going to be in the running for a national title this season, and Dobbins will capitalize on all that exposure.

Dobbins was twice named the Big  Ten Player of the Week during his freshman year and finished the year as a second-team All-Big Ten selection. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry, and he has already been named to the Doak Walker Award watch list, with a possible Heisman Trophy within his reach as well.