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Heading into the 2016 season, Tennessee may have the best duo of running backs in the nation in juniors Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara. However when you factor in the additional running threat of senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs, the trio must seem simply unfair to opposing defenses.
While Hurd needs fewer than 900 rushing yards to set the school’s career rushing mark, the fact that Dobbs keeps the defense consistently guessing on where the ball may go and can punish them for a slight misread at any time has certainly helped Hurd pile up so many rushing yards over the last two years.
In his first season as Tennessee’s full-time starter under center, Dobbs really came through on the ground. Despite sacks counting against his total rushing yardage, Dobbs still managed to accumulate 671 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in 2015. The quarterback didn’t pad his stats against the weaker teams on the schedule either, as Dobbs combined to rush for 254 total yards and two touchdowns in the Florida and Georgia games.
Pro Football Focus was so impressed with Dobbs’ running ability, the site recently ranked him the No. 6 running threat from the quarterback position in the nation heading into 2016:
He forced 45 missed tackles last season, which is an outstanding number, excelling both as a power runner on designed rushing plays and as a scrambler on broken plays. His top rushing performance of the year came in a 38-31 win over Georgia, when he broke a ridiculous 12 tackles, including several on this masterpiece of a run:
(Click the link above to see the actual video they describe)
Here’s an example of what Dobbs can bring in the running game. These types of runs can really demoralize a defense:
After finishing last season with the No. 2 rushing offense in the SEC and piling up the second most rushing yards in school history (2,908), the Vols return every significant ball carrier in addition to eight lettermen on the offensive line and two highly touted redshirt freshmen offensive linemen. Don’t be surprised if the Vols threaten to set a new single-season record (currently set at 3,068) for team rushing yards in 2016.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
