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Joshua Dobbs is a talented, multi-dimensional quarterback. Dobbs has played in eleven games as a Vol and he's shown an ability to make plays with his feet and his arm. He has 20 touchdowns total and has 658 rushing yards in just eleven games. Dobbs also showed improvement last year in all facets of the game. He struggled some, but with a leaky offensive line and young wide receivers, he did a good job going 4-1 in the final five games of the year.
However, he can get better. A lot better even. That's not a bad thing at all. It shows how high of a ceiling he has. Yet there are three things I believe Dobbs must improve for Tennessee to have a big year and for Joshua to have a big year.
1. Cutting down the interceptions
Joshua Dobbs has more interceptions than touchdown passes in his career. This is not good, but it's not completely his fault. He wasn't supposed to play the last two years. A lot of of times, he had to force the ball because Tennessee was trailing in games. Not every interception was his fault. But when you look at a guy that throws a pick every 25 passes, you know he's not doing a great job protecting the football, especially with how many plays Tennessee is running. That interception rate would be in the bottom half of the SEC.
What can Dobbs do? Sometimes it's what he can't do. Better help around him will improve his turnover rate. If the offensive line and wide receivers improve, that interception rate will go down. Most of Dobbs' interceptions are him forcing throws that are not there. He has a really strong arm and he trusts his wide receivers. This is a good thing but it's him trying to do too much. He needs to learn to take those check downs. I did notice last year he did a better job pulling the ball down and taking whatever yards were in front of him more and he definitely should do that with his athletic ability.
2. Downfield Passing
Butch Jones has reiterated it constantly the past few months. Tennessee needs more explosive plays in the passing game. Dobbs averaged 6.8 yards per attempt, which was a full yard up from his 2013 performance and half a yard better than Justin Worley. But it would have put him 11th among quarterbacks in the SEC last year. Part of this is the offense. Butch Jones' teams do not throw down the field a lot. Other than in 2012, Butch Jones has never had a team average 8 yards per pass attempt. Jones likes to use the screen game for wide receivers to create yards, which leads to shorter passing yards but more efficiency. It's not a bad strategy at all. Dobbs will never lead the SEC in yards per attempt.
At the same time, Tennessee needs that deep threat to diversify the offense and get those screens more yards. Dobbs' footwork is sloppy when he goes deep. He also struggles to get his shoulders square to the target going deep, which causes him to overthrow his target. Multiple times he missed Josh Malone on deep balls last year. Dobbs has pretty good accuracy, but the completion percentage was high because of the screen game. Dobbs can definitely get that completion percentage to 66% with a more refined deep ball and intermediate passing game.
3. Footwork
This goes a lot with #2 which we discussed but a big criticism of Dobbs from the coaching staff is his footwork. He's just not where he needs to be. There were a couple things I noticed when watching him.
When he's moving around, he does a great job keeping his shoulders squared and keeping his feet pointed at the target. When he has time on short and intermediate routes, he does a solid job of getting his feet in line and following through. The two main problems are when he has to reset in the pocket and when he gets the ball out quick. When he can't escape outside the hash marks to avoid sacks, he gets too quick and he rushes his feet. He can't get his shoulders squared, he loses his velocity, and he is not accurate. Dobbs needs to settle down and keep his eyes downfield when the pocket closes on him also. He needs to learn to reset his feet and gather himself when trash is around him and get his feet in line on downfield throws.
That leads to point number two. He sometimes can be flat footed on his throws. You want to throw the ball on the balls of your feet; that way it's quicker to set your feet and release the football. Sometimes Joshua can be caught flat footed. He struggles to turn his hips and loses his accuracy and velocity. He has a habit of this on screen plays. He was better last year, but he tries to get it out too quickly and doesn't set his feet, leaving him inaccurate.
Here are the positive things with Joshua Dobbs. He's an extremely hard worker, a bright kid that learns quickly, and athletically gifted. In my opinion, he can overcome all of these issues with more practice. Mike DeBord is a good coach when it comes to quarterbacks and Butch Jones has shown his young quarterbacks improve the more reps they get. Dobbs is a pretty solid quarterback right now, but for him and Tennessee to be elite, he needs to fix these issues. I think he will.
However, he can get better. A lot better even. That's not a bad thing at all. It shows how high of a ceiling he has. Yet there are three things I believe Dobbs must improve for Tennessee to have a big year and for Joshua to have a big year.
1. Cutting down the interceptions
Joshua Dobbs has more interceptions than touchdown passes in his career. This is not good, but it's not completely his fault. He wasn't supposed to play the last two years. A lot of of times, he had to force the ball because Tennessee was trailing in games. Not every interception was his fault. But when you look at a guy that throws a pick every 25 passes, you know he's not doing a great job protecting the football, especially with how many plays Tennessee is running. That interception rate would be in the bottom half of the SEC.
What can Dobbs do? Sometimes it's what he can't do. Better help around him will improve his turnover rate. If the offensive line and wide receivers improve, that interception rate will go down. Most of Dobbs' interceptions are him forcing throws that are not there. He has a really strong arm and he trusts his wide receivers. This is a good thing but it's him trying to do too much. He needs to learn to take those check downs. I did notice last year he did a better job pulling the ball down and taking whatever yards were in front of him more and he definitely should do that with his athletic ability.
2. Downfield Passing
Butch Jones has reiterated it constantly the past few months. Tennessee needs more explosive plays in the passing game. Dobbs averaged 6.8 yards per attempt, which was a full yard up from his 2013 performance and half a yard better than Justin Worley. But it would have put him 11th among quarterbacks in the SEC last year. Part of this is the offense. Butch Jones' teams do not throw down the field a lot. Other than in 2012, Butch Jones has never had a team average 8 yards per pass attempt. Jones likes to use the screen game for wide receivers to create yards, which leads to shorter passing yards but more efficiency. It's not a bad strategy at all. Dobbs will never lead the SEC in yards per attempt.
At the same time, Tennessee needs that deep threat to diversify the offense and get those screens more yards. Dobbs' footwork is sloppy when he goes deep. He also struggles to get his shoulders square to the target going deep, which causes him to overthrow his target. Multiple times he missed Josh Malone on deep balls last year. Dobbs has pretty good accuracy, but the completion percentage was high because of the screen game. Dobbs can definitely get that completion percentage to 66% with a more refined deep ball and intermediate passing game.
3. Footwork
This goes a lot with #2 which we discussed but a big criticism of Dobbs from the coaching staff is his footwork. He's just not where he needs to be. There were a couple things I noticed when watching him.
When he's moving around, he does a great job keeping his shoulders squared and keeping his feet pointed at the target. When he has time on short and intermediate routes, he does a solid job of getting his feet in line and following through. The two main problems are when he has to reset in the pocket and when he gets the ball out quick. When he can't escape outside the hash marks to avoid sacks, he gets too quick and he rushes his feet. He can't get his shoulders squared, he loses his velocity, and he is not accurate. Dobbs needs to settle down and keep his eyes downfield when the pocket closes on him also. He needs to learn to reset his feet and gather himself when trash is around him and get his feet in line on downfield throws.
That leads to point number two. He sometimes can be flat footed on his throws. You want to throw the ball on the balls of your feet; that way it's quicker to set your feet and release the football. Sometimes Joshua can be caught flat footed. He struggles to turn his hips and loses his accuracy and velocity. He has a habit of this on screen plays. He was better last year, but he tries to get it out too quickly and doesn't set his feet, leaving him inaccurate.
Here are the positive things with Joshua Dobbs. He's an extremely hard worker, a bright kid that learns quickly, and athletically gifted. In my opinion, he can overcome all of these issues with more practice. Mike DeBord is a good coach when it comes to quarterbacks and Butch Jones has shown his young quarterbacks improve the more reps they get. Dobbs is a pretty solid quarterback right now, but for him and Tennessee to be elite, he needs to fix these issues. I think he will.
