Despite Alabama’s throttling of Ohio State in the national championship, former Buckeye RB J.K. Dobbins, now with the Baltimore Ravens, believes the Buckeyes are closer than the 52-24 score would indicate.

Dobbins explained during a recent interview with The Spun.

“I think the gap is pretty close,” he said. “I think Alabama just had a really special team this past year. They had a whole bunch of guys – that team was pretty old so a lot of guys left. We have young guys at Ohio State right now so the gap isn’t that far so we’ll be there again. Coach (Ryan) Day is an amazing coach and he’s going to get everybody right. No doubt they’re going to be there again.”

That echoed earlier comments from Day, who believed that the shortened Big Ten schedule played a factor in the gap between the teams.

“With a great offseason, a great spring ball, a great preseason and a 12-game regular season and then a postseason leading into the game, I feel great,” Day said. “That’s always going to be our goal.”

Given Alabama’s recent recruiting class, which was ranked the best ever, combined with a re-tooled coaching staff, and the Crimson Tide are once again the team to beat entering the 2021 season.