Who Starts?

[CharVike]

You made a statement about a guy’s play when you didn’t watch him play. Therefore your statement is complete bullsh*t.

I guess it's not possible to analyze a players play by the stats. Got it. I haven't watched Tyreek Hill play this year except for some highlights. I guess that means I'm not qualified to say he's been playing well. Anybody who says he has been playing well without watching his games from start to finish is talking complete Bullsh#t.
Of course I'm exaggerating to prove a point. I get that if I had watched Dobbs play the Falcons game I would be more qualified to speak on his performance. However, my not having watched the game IMO doesn't 100% invalidate anything I have to say about his performance. If you think my saying he didn't play well means I'm saying he played poorly you are reading too much into mycomment. I by no means am saying he played poorly. It just doesn't seem like he played well. I could be wrong. The box score certainly doesn't tell the whole story. It tells part of the story.

I don't watch every Chief game but I would trade our entire QB room, including Dobbs, to them for him (Mahomes). The guy threw over 50 TD passes one year. I'm sure some of them where nice throws.

[Cliff]

I watched the Video. I saw some good. I saw a lot of bad. He almost blew the first TD pass by throwing it behind the runner. He gritted it out and we got the win. After watching this video am I now qualified to share my opinion? If so I still wouldn't call it playing well. He didn't play bad. He played just well enough for us to win. I'll take it. He looked much better in the first half of the Saints game. I'll blame the second half on KOC.

I mean, you're more qualified than not having watched any of the game at all for sure. You still miss a lot of context without having done so. The intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet like him taking control of the offense after having been on the team 4 days. There's a reason he got so much praise from so many people and the Vikings fans that did watch the game were (cautiously) optimistic about him afterward.

He didn't "just play well enough to win". He put the offense on his back and carried them to the finish line but you can't possibly know that from the stats.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but you're nearly universally disagreed with. He had a good game even just stat wise and a great game under the circumstances.

[VikingsVictorious]

I watched the Video. I saw some good. I saw a lot of bad. He almost blew the first TD pass by throwing it behind the runner. He gritted it out and we got the win. After watching this video am I now qualified to share my opinion? If so I still wouldn't call it playing well. He didn't play bad. He played just well enough for us to win. I'll take it. He looked much better in the first half of the Saints game. I'll blame the second half on KOC.

I mean, you're more qualified than not having watched any of the game at all for sure. You still miss a lot of context without having done so. The intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet like him taking control of the offense after having been on the team 4 days. There's a reason he got so much praise from so many people and the Vikings fans that did watch the game were (cautiously) optimistic about him afterward.

He didn't "just play well enough to win". He put the offense on his back and carried them to the finish line but you can't possibly know that from the stats.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but you're nearly universally disagreed with. He had a good game even just stat wise and a great game under the circumstances.

I think the reason most would disagree with me is that we won the game so he must have played well. I'm among those that are cautiously optimistic. 30 passes for 150 yards is not good stat wise. It's actually bad stat wise. The 66 yards rushing makes up for that. He looked real awkward in the video. Very unconfident I would call it. Under the circumstances that's understandable. He made several off target throws. He also made a couple very good passes that were dropped. Addison made an incredible leaping grab on one by the sideline. He had the two fumbles and gave up the safety. It's OK for you and Kapp to think he played well. Just fine. It's OK for me to think that he didn't play well. Not badly just not well.

[Cliff]

I mean, you're more qualified than not having watched any of the game at all for sure. You still miss a lot of context without having done so. The intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet like him taking control of the offense after having been on the team 4 days. There's a reason he got so much praise from so many people and the Vikings fans that did watch the game were (cautiously) optimistic about him afterward.

He didn't "just play well enough to win". He put the offense on his back and carried them to the finish line but you can't possibly know that from the stats.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but you're nearly universally disagreed with. He had a good game even just stat wise and a great game under the circumstances.

I think the reason most would disagree with me is that we won the game so he must have played well. I'm among those that are cautiously optimistic. 30 passes for 150 yards is not good stat wise. It's actually bad stat wise. The 66 yards rushing makes up for that. He looked real awkward in the video. Very unconfident I would call it. Under the circumstances that's understandable. He made several off target throws. He also made a couple very good passes that were dropped. Addison made an incredible leaping grab on one by the sideline. He had the two fumbles and gave up the safety. It's OK for you and Kapp to think he played well. Just fine. It's OK for me to think that he didn't play well. Not badly just not well.

The people that disagree mostly watched the game. Anyway, his stats are good too. 150 passing yards, 66 rushing yards and 3TDs. A 101 passer rating and a QBR of 86. 216 total yards 3 TDs and no INTs in 3 quarters.

Those are good stats. Focusing on the fact it's over 30 passes just feels like nit-picking to be contrary.

[VikingsVictorious]

I think the reason most would disagree with me is that we won the game so he must have played well. I'm among those that are cautiously optimistic. 30 passes for 150 yards is not good stat wise. It's actually bad stat wise. The 66 yards rushing makes up for that. He looked real awkward in the video. Very unconfident I would call it. Under the circumstances that's understandable. He made several off target throws. He also made a couple very good passes that were dropped. Addison made an incredible leaping grab on one by the sideline. He had the two fumbles and gave up the safety. It's OK for you and Kapp to think he played well. Just fine. It's OK for me to think that he didn't play well. Not badly just not well.

The people that disagree mostly watched the game. Anyway, his stats are good too. 150 passing yards, 66 rushing yards and 3TDs. A 101 passer rating and a QBR of 86. 216 total yards 3 TDs and no INTs in 3 quarters.

Those are good stats. Focusing on the fact it's over 30 passes just feels like nit-picking to be contrary.

It's 5 YPA. That is bad. I'm not using it to nit pick or be contrary. His throws were inaccurate compared to most starting QBs. His 2 lost fumbles and taking the sack for the safety were not good. The rushing yards must have really inflated this QBR and also the 3 total TDs. I don't understand the passer rating when 5 YPA can get you a 101 rating.

[TheCoolerOne]

The people that disagree mostly watched the game. Anyway, his stats are good too. 150 passing yards, 66 rushing yards and 3TDs. A 101 passer rating and a QBR of 86. 216 total yards 3 TDs and no INTs in 3 quarters.

Those are good stats. Focusing on the fact it's over 30 passes just feels like nit-picking to be contrary.

It's 5 YPA. That is bad. I'm not using it to nit pick or be contrary. His throws were inaccurate compared to most starting QBs. His 2 lost fumbles and taking the sack for the safety were not good. The rushing yards must have really inflated this QBR and also the 3 total TDs. I don't understand the passer rating when 5 YPA can get you a 101 rating.

Again, it's almost as if you've continued to ignore the context of the situation. I feel stupid even going over it. He was traded for Tuesday. Given 3 hours of prep to be dressed as the back up quarterback Sunday. Was learning the Vikings' offense on the whiteboard whenever he wasn't on the field.

Let's say there was four drops, and I'll give you two back just so there's no split opinion on what constitutes a drop. 22/30 150, 2 TDs, and a 2pt conversion pass to boot.

The YPA is completely irrelevant in a situation that was completely unprecedented. Not to mention, the Vikings had like 15 plays available to them as a result of Dobbs having no idea what the plays were called, what they meant, or his teammates names.

Everyone from the Vikings' head coach to the Falcons beat writers had trouble articulating just how impressive what Dobbs managed to do was, and you seem to be more hell-bent on proving all opinions are valid as opposed to backing off your stance by doing box score division.

[Cliff]

The people that disagree mostly watched the game. Anyway, his stats are good too. 150 passing yards, 66 rushing yards and 3TDs. A 101 passer rating and a QBR of 86. 216 total yards 3 TDs and no INTs in 3 quarters.

Those are good stats. Focusing on the fact it's over 30 passes just feels like nit-picking to be contrary.

It's 5 YPA. That is bad. I'm not using it to nit pick or be contrary. His throws were inaccurate compared to most starting QBs. His 2 lost fumbles and taking the sack for the safety were not good. The rushing yards must have really inflated this QBR and also the 3 total TDs. I don't understand the passer rating when 5 YPA can get you a 101 rating.

It's one stat out of an array of stats. 5 YPA but still high QBR and passer rating. Which is because YPA isn't a particularly important stat when gauging success. Because it's a "negative" stat you're highlighting it, but how important is it in comparison to the others?

Why is YPA more important than a stat looking at a more complete picture like QBR which includes fumbles in its calculations too?

Yes, the TDs and rushing yards inflated his stats because they're significantly more important than YPA.

[J. Kapp 11]

Y’all NEED to watch this. It’s almost 40 minutes, but I guarantee you will learn something.

This guy knows what he’s talking about. He’s knowledgeable — far more knowledgeable than anyone doing this kind of analysis for public consumption — and he’s honest. If Dobbs gets it wrong, he calls it and tells you why. He talks about Dobbs’ rough start. But he also makes it clear as to why Josh Dobbs is a pro’s pro. He doesn’t just spout it as a talking-head opinion. He tells you why, in great detail.

At this point, it’s about winning. Now is not the time to see what we have in a rookie. We need a professional quarterback. Watch this video and you’ll see … Dobbs is the guy.

I watched the Video. I saw some good. I saw a lot of bad. He almost blew the first TD pass by throwing it behind the runner. He gritted it out and we got the win. After watching this video am I now qualified to share my opinion? If so I still wouldn't call it playing well. He didn't play bad. He played just well enough for us to win. I'll take it. He looked much better in the first half of the Saints game. I'll blame the second half on KOC.

Well, if you watched that video, where a former NFL quarterback breaks down Dobbs’ play and tells you how insane it was for Dobbs to have ANY success, let alone make full-field reads, throw with accuracy and anticipation, run with both speed and strength, overcome extreme adversity, and most importantly win the damn game … and you STILL think he played poorly … then there’s nothing else to talk about. As you have done since the day you joined this board, you’re simply trying to win an argument by yelling the loudest.

You’ve failed.

Have a nice day.

[VikingsVictorious]

I watched the Video. I saw some good. I saw a lot of bad. He almost blew the first TD pass by throwing it behind the runner. He gritted it out and we got the win. After watching this video am I now qualified to share my opinion? If so I still wouldn't call it playing well. He didn't play bad. He played just well enough for us to win. I'll take it. He looked much better in the first half of the Saints game. I'll blame the second half on KOC.

Well, if you watched that video, where a former NFL quarterback breaks down Dobbs’ play and tells you how insane it was for Dobbs to have ANY success, let alone make full-field reads, throw with accuracy and anticipation, run with both speed and strength, overcome extreme adversity, and most importantly win the damn game … and you STILL think he played poorly … then there’s nothing else to talk about. As you have done since the day you joined this board, you’re simply trying to win an argument by yelling the loudest.

You’ve failed.

Have a nice day.

I never ever ever ever ever once said he played poorly. He just IMO didn't play well. Am I not allowed to have an opinion? I took 40 minutes of my time to watch every second of your recommended video. You don't even appreciate that. Many of you are talking about under the circumstances he played well. I'll give you that one. As for a well played game by a starting NFL QB without cutting him slack for the circumstances I didn't see it. Why is it so freaking important that I agree? Why do you throw nasty insults at me because I disagree. I wasn't trying to win an argument. There is no right or wrong answer to this. It's a matter of opinion. Do you really want to run a smear campaign against me. What the hell did I do to you. I believe you owe me an apology.

[chicagopurple]

I think Vikings fans are just desperate for a savior so we magnify any good thing. The truth is, the team currently just has a collection of back up QBs, They have surprised us with some decent performances but none of them are going to be "the Savior" who will carry us to a Super Bowl. Any QB that can scramble is an amazing breath of fresh air after a decade of stagnation. Given that we have had NO OL for a decade, seeing a QB that can function on the run is FUN. Long term he will likely either get injured as most running QBs do. Either way, all these back up guys should regress back towards the average they have historically played at. Till then, lets enjoy some entertaining football, that hasnt been so common for us this decade.

[J. Kapp 11]

Well, if you watched that video, where a former NFL quarterback breaks down Dobbs’ play and tells you how insane it was for Dobbs to have ANY success, let alone make full-field reads, throw with accuracy and anticipation, run with both speed and strength, overcome extreme adversity, and most importantly win the damn game … and you STILL think he played poorly … then there’s nothing else to talk about. As you have done since the day you joined this board, you’re simply trying to win an argument by yelling the loudest.

You’ve failed.

Have a nice day.

I never ever ever ever ever once said he played poorly. He just IMO didn't play well. Am I not allowed to have an opinion? I took 40 minutes of my time to watch every second of your recommended video. You don't even appreciate that. Many of you are talking about under the circumstances he played well. I'll give you that one. As for a well played game by a starting NFL QB without cutting him slack for the circumstances I didn't see it. Why is it so freaking important that I agree? Why do you throw nasty insults at me because I disagree. I wasn't trying to win an argument. There is no right or wrong answer to this. It's a matter of opinion. Do you really want to run a smear campaign against me. What the hell did I do to you. I believe you owe me an apology.

First of all, I couldn’t care less if you agree. I just want to come here and have civil conversation.

An apology? Nonsense.

You said you hadn’t seen the game, but the stats told you Dobbs didn’t play well. I asked if you watched the video. You said you didn’t need to watch the video.

At which point I tried to end the conversation.

But YOU kept going, insisting you didn’t need to see either the game or the video to know he didn’t play well.

So no, I won’t apologize. This is on you. You kept going. You insisted on being right. And when you finally did watch the video, you focused only on the plays that supported your position and concluded that you were still right.

This is the exact M.O. you’ve taken since you joined the board. You take a position and support your opinion with more of your own opinion. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you acknowledge it’s just your opinion. But that’s not what you do. When people like me ask you to support your opinion with facts, or at least with the opinion of an expert, you refuse.

So no, I won’t apologize. I simply posted a video that I thought Vikings fans might enjoy, and you turned it into this ongoing nonsense, even after I tried to end it.

[VikingsVictorious]

I never ever ever ever ever once said he played poorly. He just IMO didn't play well. Am I not allowed to have an opinion? I took 40 minutes of my time to watch every second of your recommended video. You don't even appreciate that. Many of you are talking about under the circumstances he played well. I'll give you that one. As for a well played game by a starting NFL QB without cutting him slack for the circumstances I didn't see it. Why is it so freaking important that I agree? Why do you throw nasty insults at me because I disagree. I wasn't trying to win an argument. There is no right or wrong answer to this. It's a matter of opinion. Do you really want to run a smear campaign against me. What the hell did I do to you. I believe you owe me an apology.

First of all, I couldn’t care less if you agree. I just want to come here and have civil conversation.

An apology? Nonsense.

You said you hadn’t seen the game, but the stats told you Dobbs didn’t play well. I asked if you watched the video. You said you didn’t need to watch the video.

At which point I tried to end the conversation.

But YOU kept going, insisting you didn’t need to see either the game or the video to know he didn’t play well.

So no, I won’t apologize. This is on you. You kept going. You insisted on being right. And when you finally did watch the video, you focused only on the plays that supported your position and concluded that you were still right.

This is the exact M.O. you’ve taken since you joined the board. You take a position and support your opinion with more of your own opinion. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you acknowledge it’s just your opinion. But that’s not what you do. When people like me ask you to support your opinion with facts, or at least with the opinion of an expert, you refuse.

So no, I won’t apologize. I simply posted a video that I thought Vikings fans might enjoy, and you turned it into this ongoing nonsense, even after I tried to end it.

You absolutely required that I agreed with you. I'm the one who wanted to have a civil discussion. You wanted to attack me for disagreeing with you and your expert video. You basically held the position that the video was the end all of the discussion on Dobbs performance and how dare I disagree with his conclusion. You even said I said Dobbs played poorly. I never once said he played poorly.

I watched the video you posted showing the good, the bad and the ugly of Dobbs performance. Much of the video supported my opinion pointing out all the ways he did not play well like the fumbles, the sack, and off target passes. It also showed some good things and I acknowledged them. I always said he played well enough for us to win and that's the biggest thing.

I've never been anything, but polite and complimentary to you. On the other hand you attacked me slinging a nasty accusation against me which you repeated here. That's what you owe me an apology for.

[makila]

From The Athletic, good read, thought worth sharing.

Josh Dobbs’ rise to NFL prominence is hard to believe — unless you know him
Alec Lewis Nov 17, 2023

The retired professor set his laptop aside and reached for the remote. For more than an hour, Chris Pionke had paid little attention to the NFL game on the television in front of him. The teams moved back and forth across the screen and the announcers provided analysis, but Pionke was scrolling mindlessly on his laptop. That changed when he heard the name.

Josh Dobbs.

Pionke, who taught engineering at the University of Tennessee for nearly three decades, perked up and increased the volume. He wondered if the announcers were just mentioning the former Volunteers quarterback, or if Dobbs was actually in the game. He squinted at the screen and spotted a tall, lanky, familiar-looking player wearing the No. 15 in Minnesota Vikings white and purple.

Pionke hollered to his wife who had been sitting over in the kitchen.

“Cindy!” Pionke said. “Josh is in!”

Their Knoxville, Tenn., home livened immediately with football noises. Dobbs barked the pre-snap cadence. Linemen crashed into one another. Announcers yelled, astonished at what they were watching. Pionke listened intently while Dobbs orchestrated a thriller of a victory in relief of rookie Jaren Hall despite having fewer than five days of preparation with his new team.

The professor cheered excitedly but was not shocked. Those who knew Dobbs well — his former coaches, advisers, mentors, family and friends — felt much the same way.

Their reaction to Dobbs’ public introduction is best summed up by former Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, who reiterated the same message five times in a 10-minute phone call:

“If you know Josh, this is not surprising. This is not surprising at all.”

Josh Dobbs showed up in Knoxville wearing a baby-blue suit. Personalized business cards filled his pockets. A detailed schedule laid out his entire day.

Long before he became Tennessee’s starter, months before he even committed to the university, Dobbs took a tour. Alongside his parents, Stephanie and Robert, Dobbs was chaperoned across campus. They visited the football facilities as well as the engineering lecture halls.

Behind the scenes, the athletic department had orchestrated a meeting with Matthew Mench, then the head of the aerospace engineering department.

Toward the end of their conversation, Mench tossed out a question.

“What math are you currently taking?”

Dobbs deadpanned, “Differential equations.”

Mench’s eyebrow rose as if to say: “How in the hell?”

Differential equations, mind you, typically follows Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Matrix algebra and Calculus 3. A high schooler taking such an advanced class was unheard of.

Why was Dobbs so advanced?

Stephanie, a former UPS executive, and Robert, a longtime banking executive, intentionally exposed Dobbs to an array of subjects as he was growing up in Alpharetta, Ga., outside of Atlanta. They parented with a general creed: The world is yours, and you can do anything you choose.

“To be able to do that,” Stephanie said, “you have to know what’s available.”

Stephanie and Robert sparked the younger Dobbs’ curiosity through yearly trips. They visited different colleges. They explored museums. They wanted their son to absorb it all.

On many of those trips, while sitting idly in bustling airports, Dobbs stood starry-eyed and watched as beautiful machinery disappeared into the sky. Airplanes became a fascination. As a youth, Dobbs asked his parents endless questions about what they were and how they worked. Years later, he would stand at the window and recite the make, model and size of every plane in sight.

As Dobbs reached middle school, his parents pushed him to try numerous activities. They allowed him to play football, basketball and baseball, as opposed to specializing in one. They suggested he try the saxophone. He joined the debate team. Stephanie thought it’d be great for Josh to try the chess club. That is, if he was actually serious about beating her.

“He eventually did,” Stephanie said. “Oh my goodness, I was heartbroken.”

As Dobbs reached high school, math came naturally. Dobbs enjoyed problem-solving and was so proficient that he began taking higher-level math classes at a local community college as an upperclassman. Realizing he could pair his love of flight with his aptitude for math, Dobbs decided to pursue aerospace engineering in college, which Mench described as a subject centered around the physics, materials, structure and propulsion of everything that flies in space.

Advisers tried to talk him out of it, outlining the schedule constraints and workload, but Dobbs would cut them off. Stephanie and Robert backed their son’s vision because they believed in the reward of passionate pursuit. And they knew their son was committed, doubts be damned.

Two days into Dobbs’ first training camp as a freshman at Tennessee, Antone Davis, a UT football staffer, spotted Dobbs sitting on the floor inside the facility.

A playbook was sprawled out on the carpet beside him. Dobbs scanned the pages. Davis thought he’d play a joke on the newbie, so he hollered down the hallway.

“Hey rookie,” he yelled, “you about to learn those plays yet?”

Davis thought Dobbs would squirm. Instead, he looked up and nodded convincingly.

“Yes sir,” Dobbs said. “I know all of the concepts, and I know what they’re trying to do.”

Davis nodded awkwardly and stepped back into his office.

“I was, like, ‘Uhh, OK then.’”

Preparation was never a problem for Dobbs. He awoke at 6:30, attended class from 8-2, practiced and watched film from 2:30-7, then finished his homework in the academic building from 7:30-10. If need be, he’d find extra time for classwork or film study earlier in the morning or later in the evening.

College football fans heard about this the first time Dobbs played a college football game. It was October 2013, and Tennessee’s starting quarterback, Justin Worley, had injured his right thumb. The Vols turned to Dobbs, then a freshman, on the road against Alabama, the best team in the country. On the television broadcast, CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson shared an anecdote that had been relayed to her by a Tennessee staffer.

A few weeks earlier, Tennessee had played Oregon in Eugene. The Vols lost the game and flew home late at night. All of the cabin lights on the flight were dark — except for one. Tucked in the middle of the plane was Dobbs, who sat in the aisle and flipped through thick engineering books.

As Wolfson shared the story, Dr. Christopher Pionke listened and thought: Now I understand how he completed his assignment in honors Engineering Fundamentals 157.

The class, to use Pionke’s own words, was “relentless.” Students attended lectures Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday were reserved for labs, projects and problem sessions. That semester, Dobbs also took four-credit math and chemistry classes.

Backing up Worley helped Dobbs’ prioritization early on even if, away from the cameras, coaches already were making a case for him to play.

During one meeting of the coaching staff, Davis said, a coach interjected: “Guys, who are we going to get to play quarterback?”

Silence enveloped the room for a few seconds, then a defensive coach blurted out, “Josh can do it.”

“He can’t run,” another coach jawed back. “Josh can’t run.”

“Coach!” another defensive staffer said. “We can’t catch him on the scout team. We can’t catch him.”

“I’ll never forget that,” Davis said. “That’s when (head coach) Butch (Jones) decided to give him an opportunity.”

Dobbs played five games his freshman season and entered spring practice in a full-on quarterback competition. Away from the field, he was constructing Olympic medal stands out of foam core and working his connections to secure an internship for the summer.

Late in the spring, Jerry Wheeler, a longtime director of military engines at Pratt & Whitney and a Tennessee alum, received a phone call from a mutual friend of the Dobbs family.

“There’s a member of the football team at Tennessee who would like to intern at Pratt & Whitney during the summer,” the friend said.

“I only know one guy on the football team who is an aerospace engineer major,” Wheeler responded.

“Yeah,” the mutual friend said, “it’s Josh.”

A few months later, while Dobbs could have been enjoying his short break from school, he showed up every day to a control room in West Palm Beach, Fla., to monitor computer display screens that filtered data on an engine mounted in front of them.

Those who knew Dobbs at Tennessee often feel as though they have to offer a clarification.

I swear, they’ll say. He really did all of this!

Sure, in his four years with the Vols, he completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 7,138 yards and 87 touchdowns (53 passing, 32 rushing and two receiving). He led the team to 9-4 marks in his junior and senior seasons, setting several school records along the way. He graduated in 2017 with a perfect 4.0 GPA and won Tennessee’s 2017 Torchbearer Award, the highest honor for an undergraduate student.

But there’s so much more.

One example: the semester Dobbs met one-on-one with a professor each morning because the class was at 3 p.m., the same time as UT’s football practice.

Another example: the time Dobbs left practice immediately to go speak at a Boy Scouts of America banquet three hours down the road in Atlanta. Brian Russell, the team’s academic adviser, drove Dobbs, who sat in the backseat and furiously tapped away at his computer. Upon arrival, he changed into a suit, spoke to the kids and then slept in the car on the three-hour drive back so he could attend class in the morning.

Another example: the time Dobbs held up the Vols’ buses before a road trip because he was spending time with a young girl who had been diagnosed with Alopecia areata, just as he had. Davis had informed Dobbs that spending five minutes with the young girl would suffice. Forty-five minutes later, Dobbs was laughing with the young girl inside Tennessee’s indoor practice facility. She’d worn a wig, nervous about her condition, but Dobbs had made her feel comfortable enough that she took it off just for him. Coaches noticed Dobbs was missing and yelled for him, only to find out later what he’d been up to.

“That was one of the coolest moments,” Davis said. “It was a time where he didn’t have time. And he took time to make time for the little girl.”

In four years, he became a spokesperson for the engineering school. He visited with prospective students, spoke at banquets and met with donors. He mastered time management in a way Russell hadn’t witnessed before (or since) with a student athlete.

“It was like you were dealing with a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company,” Russell said. “And I mean that seriously. The young man was one of the most special human beings I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with.”

The dynamics of Dobbs’ pre-NFL draft preparations only furthered that feeling. In the spring of 2017, Dobbs split time between Knoxville and Bradenton, Fla., at IMG Academy. A couple of credit hours remained, so he would train at IMG from Friday through Tuesday and attend classes in Knoxville from Wednesday to Friday.

The travel? The mayhem? The different environments? Fulfilling obligations? Working with others? Operating in high-pressure environments?

This is all Josh Dobbs has known.

This past weekend, as Pionke nestled into his recliner to watch Dobbs start another NFL game against the New Orleans Saints, he thought to himself: Finally. The world is getting to see who Josh Dobbs is.

For years, the professor had followed Dobbs’ path and waited for him to get his chance. The Steelers drafted him in 2017 as a developmental option behind Ben Roethlisberger. Colbert, the former GM, said Dobbs wowed the team with his on-field performance. It’s just that the Steelers had a Hall of Famer standing in his way.

Cleveland signed Dobbs to a one-year, $1 million deal in 2022, but cut him late in the season. The Browns asked to bring him back on the practice squad, Stephanie said, but Dobbs felt that joining the Lions’ practice squad would give him the best chance to succeed long term.
go-deeper

Needing a quarterback late last season, Tennessee identified Dobbs as a player who could learn the Titans offense quickly and “erase the gray when things didn’t play out clean,” said one coach who had a role in the signing. In fact, Dobbs acclimated more quickly than they expected, the coach said, and spoke steadfastly to coaches about tailoring the offense to the players already in the system — not him.

According to agent Mike McCartney, even though Dobbs finished his two Titans starts a mediocre 40-for-68 passing (a 58.8 percent completion rate) for 411 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and two lost fumbles, one coach told Dobbs after his final game, “You’re going to be our guy next year.”

A regime change in Tennessee altered those plans, and the Titans ultimately drafted quarterback Will Levis. Only two teams expressed real interest this offseason, according to McCartney: Cleveland and Arizona.

“I remember thinking to myself: ‘Did anybody watch these two Tennessee games?’” McCartney said. “‘Do we not watch the tape? Not one pre-snap penalty in two games with a guy who just arrived nine days before his first start?’ It just didn’t completely make sense that only two teams had interest.”

After reviewing both teams’ infrastructures, Dobbs, now 28, signed with the Browns. During the preseason, though, they traded him to the Cardinals, where finally, after six years of spotty playing time, a game plan was built around his skill set. Eight starts later, following admirable showings against several of the NFL’s best defenses, Dobbs was on the move again.
go-deeper

He flew to a new city. He buried himself in a new playbook. He stayed at the facility with Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski late on Friday afternoon to ensure he could operate the game plan.

In the eyes of Dobbs’ parents, that, really, is the story here. Eschewing the path of least resistance. Exhausting all available resources. Preparing yourself for the opportunity so that when the time comes, the only people who are surprised are the ones who don’t know you at all.

[makila]

**Edit: The full article was a bit long and taking up a lot of the page so I snipped it and added the link. -Cliff

Ahh sorry Cliff. Didn't think everyone could read via link, thought it was behind their paywall.

[Thaumaturgist]

**Edit: The full article was a bit long and taking up a lot of the page so I snipped it and added the link. -Cliff

Ahh sorry Cliff. Didn't think everyone could read via link, thought it was behind their paywall.

It is, and I can't