{"id":231668,"date":"2025-05-08T14:00:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T18:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=231668"},"modified":"2025-05-08T06:27:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:27:51","slug":"bears-named-best-fit-for-j-k-dobbins-chargers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/05\/08\/bears-named-best-fit-for-j-k-dobbins-chargers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Named &#8220;Best Fit&#8221; For 1,000-Yard Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Despite recording over 1,000 yards from scrimmage last year, running back J.K. Dobbins is still a free agent. A second-round pick in the 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-draft\/\" target=\"_self\">NFL Draft<\/a>, the Ohio State product struggled to stay healthy during his first four seasons in the league and had to sign a one-year, prove-it contract with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024. Dobbins made the most of his opportunity, playing in 13 games while making a career-high 11 starts for Jim Harbaugh&#8217;s squad. During his time on the field, the running back recorded 905 rushing yards and nine touchdowns while adding an additional 153 yards as a receiver.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his multiple injuries, last year proved that J.K. Dobbins can still play, and he should find a new team before long. According to NFL Network, the Chicago Bears could sign Dobbins in the coming days, but they won&#8217;t be the only team interested in his services.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">J.K. Dobbins \u27a1\ufe0f Bears? <br \/>Stephon Gilmore \u27a1\ufe0f Bengals? <br \/>Justin Simmons \u27a1\ufe0f Eagles? <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BaldyNFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@BaldyNFL<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeffrichadiha?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@jeffrichadiha<\/a> share their favorite landing spots for the top remaining free agents. \ud83d\udc40 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1fn5HehxWq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/1fn5HehxWq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL Network (@nflnetwork) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nflnetwork\/status\/1919545780454752261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_231670\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-231670\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-231670\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Dobbins Bears\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Dobbins-Bears-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-231670\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 5, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins (27) gains yardage against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>NFL Network: Chicago Bears &#8220;Best Fit&#8221; For J.K. Dobbins<\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s easy to see why the Chicago Bears would be interested in J.K. Dobbins. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/13\/ben-johnson-heroic-statement-bears-drew-dalman\/\" target=\"_self\">First-year head coach Ben Johnson<\/a> reportedly tried to trade up for a running back in the 2025 NFL Draft and, while that ultimately didn&#8217;t happen, it shows he&#8217;s not happy with the current state of the depth chart. Current starter D&#8217;Andre Swift is coming off a rough season and couldn&#8217;t carve out a role for himself when he and Johnson worked together in Detroit. Former fourth-round pick Roschon Johnson, meanwhile, is nothing more than an unremarkable depth piece.<\/p>\n<p>Dobbins could probably start for the Bears, and it makes sense for Chicago to target the veteran. However, don&#8217;t be surprised if he signs with one of these other organizations.<\/p>\n<h3>Other Fits<\/h3>\n<h4>Kansas City Chiefs<\/h4>\n<p>The Kansas City Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl with Isiah Pacheco and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/09\/20\/fantasy-football-impact-of-kareem-hunt-signing\/\" target=\"_self\">aging Kareem Hunt<\/a> leading their backfield. Now set to reprise their roles, the Chiefs could use more talent in their backfield. J.K. Dobbins is better than Pacheco and Hunt when healthy, and his ability to make plays as both a runner and a receiver could make him a dangerous part of this passing attack.<\/p>\n<h4>Arizona Cardinals<\/h4>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fQYMyxlRbnY\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Conner remains atop Arizona&#8217;s depth chart<\/a>, but the longtime veteran isn&#8217;t getting any younger. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/04\/14\/trey-benson-cardinals-running-back-dynasty-outlook\/\" target=\"_self\">2024 third-round pick Trey Benson<\/a> didn&#8217;t show much as a rookie, and head coach Jonathan Gannon needs to start winning games to keep his job. If Benson can&#8217;t handle a larger workload, then the Cardinals could sign Dobbins to provide a fierce 1-2 punch in the backfield.<\/p>\n<h4>New Orleans Saints<\/h4>\n<p>Much like the Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints lack reliable depth behind their aging starting running back. The New Orleans Saints have a lot of work to do on their roster, and running back is not the biggest priority. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/24\/2025-nfl-draft-scouting-report-tyler-shough-louisville\/\" target=\"_self\">second-round Tyler Shough<\/a> needs support to become a franchise quarterback, and adding more stability to the run game could increase his odds of becoming the long-awaited heir to Drew Brees.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Thomas Shea &#8211; Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NFL Network believes the Chicago Bears should sign Los Angeles Chargers free agent running back J.K. Dobbins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":231669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,33,23,16,18,28],"tags":[7801,7642,7403,7811,6497,7659],"class_list":["post-231668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cardinals","category-bears","category-chiefs","category-chargers","category-saints","tag-arizona-cardinals-news","tag-chargers-featured","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-j-k-dobbins","tag-saints-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231668"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231945,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231668\/revisions\/231945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}