Bo Jackson’s first year in Columbus already put him in some pretty rare company, and now the comparison game is starting to feel natural. After a freshman season in 2025 that produced more than 1,000 rushing yards, Jackson finished fewer than 400 yards behind Big Ten rushing leader Emmett Johnson of Nebraska and enters 2026 positioned to take another step forward.
With Arthur Smith now running a run-first offense, Jackson’s trajectory starts to echo another Buckeyes back who kept getting better: J.K. Dobbins.
Dobbins arrived in 2017 and wasted no time making noise. He piled up 1,403 rushing yards, led the Big Ten with 7.2 yards per carry, and averaged 100.2 yards per game. He went over 100 yards six times that season, and the wild part is that he reached 20 carries only once - in the opener at Indiana, when he ripped off a season-best 181 yards in a 49-21 win.
He was explosive in a way that jumped off the page. Twice in 2017, Dobbins averaged more than 10 yards per carry in a game, including the Big Ten Championship win over Wisconsin.
That’s why Jackson feels like a player worth watching closely in 2026. It’s not hard to imagine him matching or even topping Dobbins’s 1,403-yard freshman benchmark. But the more interesting part of the comparison is what happened next for Dobbins.
His rushing total dropped to 1,053 yards in 2018, which was actually 37 fewer than Jackson had as a freshman. That wasn’t because Dobbins stopped being dangerous.
It was because Ohio State’s offense changed shape. Dwayne Haskins threw for over 4,800 yards and 50 touchdowns on 533 passes, and the Buckeyes had four players clear 650 receiving yards.
Parris Campbell led the way with 1,063 yards and 12 touchdowns on 90 catches.
The backfield setup mattered too. Ohio State had J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber sharing the load, and while Dobbins was still the lead option, the gap in carries was much smaller in 2018 than it had been in 2017.
This year, Jackson looks like the clear bell cow. Ohio State really hasn’t had that kind of featured runner since Dobbins, and that kind of workload could set Jackson up for a bigger season. If it all clicks, the Buckeyes offense could become the most dual-threat version we’ve seen in a few years.
Dobbins’ final season in 2019 showed just how high that ceiling can go. He had 10 games with at least 100 rushing yards, eight with 150 or more, and he crossed 20 carries in eight games and 30 carries in three. He finished the year with over 150 rushing yards in each of Ohio State’s last four games.
That stretch included 211 yards at Michigan, 172 against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship, and 174 against Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinals. By the end of the season, Dobbins had 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns on 311 carries, including six games with multiple rushing scores and four touchdowns at Michigan.
Jackson may not be there yet, and he may not need to be. But the path is visible.
He already proved he can handle a big role in 2025, and now Ohio State knows exactly who its lead back is. Dobbins became one of the great running backs in recent Buckeyes history.
Jackson’s start suggests he’s on a very promising track of his own.
In Other News...
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Texas Just Got A Worrying Boost Before Ohio State Rematch
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Woodson and Howard only deepen the regret. Woodsons all-around brilliance made him one of the rare defenders who could shape a season from every angle, while Howards Heisman run was built on the kind of moments Ohio State fans remember too well, from the punt return that broke a game open to the pose that followed. Put together, they are a reminder that some of the rivalrys most painful memories came from players Buckeye fans would have gladly claimed if the recruiting trail had gone a different way. [Read more 🡒]