J.K. Dobbins, Jordan Mason can join an elite club

It’s the season of the running back, so far. And two unlikely candidates stand on the brink of joining an elite club.

Per the NFL, Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins and 49ers running back Jordan Mason have rushed for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in each of the first two games of the regular season. They can become the seventh and eighth in league history to make it three-for-three.

The other members of the group are Jim Brown, with six in 1958, O.J. Simpson (five, in 1975), DeMarco Murray (four, in 2014), Emmitt Smith (four, in 1995), Dalvin Cook (three, in 2019), and Curtis Martin (three, in 2004).

Dobbins leads the league with 266 rushing yards. Mason, who is playing for Christian McCaffrey, lands in second place with 247.

The fact that Dobbins is playing at Pittsburgh would seem to hurt his cause. However, in three career games against the Steelers, Dobbins has more than 320 rushing yards. And, in his only visit to Pittsburgh, Dobbins had 120 yards on only 15 carries.

This year, Dobbins has 27 total carries in two games; Mason had 28 in one game. That gives Dobbins an obscenely high average of 9.9 yards per carry.

Dobbins has always been a great tailback. Injuries — a torn ACL and an Achilles tear — have kept him from becoming a superstar. Now, in his first year with the Chargers, he’s on the verge of getting there.

Not a bad return for a one-year, $1.61 million deal. Throw in Jordan Mason’s $985,000 salary, and the top two tailbacks through two weeks cost a grand total of $2.595 million.