He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.

[3] Despite his injury, Dobbins was a highly-touted four-star prospect, and received over twenty scholarship offers from Power Five conferences.

[note 1] After some speculation that he would sign with Texas or Oklahoma, Dobbins committed to Ohio State University to play college football.

[5][6] Dobbins had earned the start over the returning 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Mike Weber who was recovering from an injury.

During the 2017 Big Ten Football Championship Game, Dobbins overtook Maurice Clarett for the most rushing yards by a Freshman with his 174-yard, MVP performance.

During a 24–7 Cotton Bowl Classic win against USC, Dobbins set the Freshman rushing record at 1,403 yards.

The time split paired with Dwayne Haskins' award-winning performance at quarterback led to a decrease in productivity for Dobbins.

[16] The Ravens previously traded tight end Hayden Hurst to the Atlanta Falcons to acquire the pick used on Dobbins.

In his NFL debut against the Cleveland Browns on September 13, 2020, Dobbins had seven carries for 22 yards and scored his first two career rushing touchdowns in a 38–6 victory in Week 1.

[22] Dobbins suffered a torn ACL in the final preseason game against the Washington Football Team on August 28, 2021, and was placed on injured reserve a few days later.

[34] In their 2024 season opener under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, he rushed 10 times for 135 yards and a touchdown in a 22–10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.