In Praise of Josh Dobbs, Passing Quarterback

#26
#26
As infuriating sometimes as he has been throwing the ball, I recognize that other times he has been spot on. I wish for his sake we would've had an amazing qb coach that could have really developed him. Imagine what kind of numbers he would've had if he would've been developed properly!

I will always be grateful for the time he has worn the Power T, and look forward to him representing us in the next chapter of his life, be it the NFL or NASA.
 
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#28
#28
jps2194 said:
IMO, this is not an accurate description for any QB. Each QB faces differing levels of competition and to single out Dobbs because of the last 4 games is not fair IMO. At the end of the season, the other QB's he's being compared to all faced similar circumstances. Furthermore, Dobbs faced the best defense in the country.
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This is absolute gibberish and illogical. And to further my point, based on your last sentence, remind us how he fared vs the best defense in the country....here, I'll remind you....16-27 for 92 yards, zero tds, a pick 6 and his lowest qb rating of the season. That certainly wasn't all his fault by any stretch, but his stats were what they were.....which is light years worse than what we saw from those bad defenses the last 1/3 of the year.

No, I gave Josh credit for making great improvements in passing the ball, especially downfield, and that was huge. He gets credit for that. But when you look closer at the numbers, it gives us more truth and context to what was overall a very good season for Josh. He was average at times, a couple times he was pretty bad and was phenomenal at times....and the competition he was playing played a role in how we saw him perform.
 
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#29
#29
If I'm an NFL GM, I draft Dobbs in rounds 3-5 (assuming somebody else doesn't value him higher). He may not ever become a "franchise" QB, but every team carries 2-3 QB's. He would be a huge asset in the meeting room even if he's not the starter. He's always been a team first type of player. He could also bring a change of pace or specialty dual threat option as a back up. He doesn't have a cannon, but he wouldn't be considered a weak armed NFL QB. I just don't see the downside to having a player like Josh Dobbs on my roster as long as the price tag isn't too high. NFL QB's are a hard animal to predict so its also possible he develops into a ten year starter. JMO, TIFWIW, AARP
 
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#30
#30
stats never tell the "whole" story...he was tough as nails and could take a hit, jump up, and go again...glad he was a Vol...thanks Josh...to me you always will be a VFL...:salute:

GO VOLS...BEAT HUSKERS!
 
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#31
#31
KBVol said:
Love Josh Dobbs and I'm in large part a numbers guy. There's no doubt that Josh improved in a lot of areas throwing the ball this year, especially downfield. Yards per attempt was an issue for him prior to this year and he took a big jump in that area. To go from a career average of about 6.5 to 8.3 was a huge improvement.

But we also have to recognize that he was having a pretty "meh" statistical season until the last 4 games ..... versus Tennessee Tech, Kentucky, Missouri and Vandy. Until that point, through 8 games, he was completing well under 60% of his throws and had nearly as many interceptions as touchdown passes (15 tds, 11 ints).

All that is not to say that he didn't, overall, have a very good season throwing the ball. And when you throw in his running, well that takes him to a different level. But that last 4 game stretch (69 of 86, 80.2% completions, 11 tds vs 1 interception) vs some really bad defenses made all the difference in his passing stats.

Finally, as Fade said, Dobbs was not the problem this year. With the exception of the SCar and Bama games, he played winning football all year long and very easily could've been First Team All-SEC. The glaring, obvious issue with this team on the field was on defense.
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Agree with this. I'm just not sold on offensive scheme and/or play calling. The OL problems cloud what it could be. If Dobbs makes it to the NFL it would make me question the scheme and play calling more.
 
#32
#32
UT Hill Man said:
Just saying Dobbs is going to hard to replace. We might find it hard to squeeze out even as many wins as we had this season. You can almost write it down as fact.
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We are a 8 or 9 win program if you take PHIL out of it we are a 8 win program i dont know why with what all we got to offer well i do really we wont and never will give the top dollar to get what it takes i hate bama but they always throw money around and try to get the top coach at the time they need one we dont and never will the truth hurts sometimes seen this s@it for 50 years now and i really dont think it will change in the next 50.:thud: One more thing a lot of VOL fans give Phil H@LL and all he did was win a NC and compete for the SEC nearly every year and all you hear is the jokes about him so deep down you now he likes the curse of FULMER that has hit our football program sense the day we ran him of.:eek:hmy:
 
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#34
#34
walkenvol said:
If I'm an NFL GM, I draft Dobbs in rounds 3-5 (assuming somebody else doesn't value him higher). He may not ever become a "franchise" QB, but every team carries 2-3 QB's. He would be a huge asset in the meeting room even if he's not the starter. He's always been a team first type of player. He could also bring a change of pace or specialty dual threat option as a back up. He doesn't have a cannon, but he wouldn't be considered a weak armed NFL QB. I just don't see the downside to having a player like Josh Dobbs on my roster as long as the price tag isn't too high. NFL QB's are a hard animal to predict so its also possible he develops into a ten year starter. JMO, TIFWIW, AARP
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Great post. Josh answered a lot of questions this season about his passing abilities and I think it he improved his draft stock considerably. I agree that rounds 3, 4, 5, in that range is probably about right. Not a franchise qb or even a stsrter, certainly not early on. But I think he definitely is drafted, definitely makes a practice squad and even has a good chance to make a 53 man roster.
 
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#35
#35
McDad said:
Dobbs' second half against UF was amazing. He elevated his play and all those around him.

Side Q here: Did he miss any game (full or partial) due to injury in his career as starter?
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He sure withstood a hell of a hit in that last touchdown vs. App State. Kudos to the App State defender. One of the best tackles I've seen in a goal line situation.

Click picture for animation

(Someone tell me how to get a GIF to play automagically)
 

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#36
#36
Mick said:
Agree with this. I'm just not sold on offensive scheme and/or play calling. The OL problems cloud what it could be. If Dobbs makes it to the NFL it would make me question the scheme and play calling more.
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I personally don't like this offense in any way. Don't like the read option mess, certainly don't like the passive zone blocking and the overabundance of horizontal plays/movement. I also think Dobbs masked issues, primarily a very bad OL.
 
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#37
#37
KBVol said:
This is absolute gibberish and illogical. And to further my point, based on your last sentence, remind us how he fared vs the best defense in the country....here, I'll remind you....16-27 for 92 yards, zero tds, a pick 6 and his lowest qb rating of the season. That certainly wasn't all his fault by any stretch, but his stats were what they were.....which is light years worse than what we saw from those bad defenses the last 1/3 of the year.

No, I gave Josh credit for making great improvements in passing the ball, especially downfield, and that was huge. He gets credit for that. But when you look closer at the numbers, it gives us more truth and context to what was overall a very good season for Josh. He was average at times, a couple times he was pretty bad and was phenomenal at times....and the competition he was playing played a role in how we saw him perform.
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Calm down, good grief.

You are essentially saying that because he played against poor defenses the last 4 games, that should be taken into account in his entire body of work. I get what you are saying, but I disagree when looking at what he did for the entire season. Every team faces varying levels of competition. Only looking at a small slice isn't a fair comparison. My point about Bama was in spite of playing against the best D in the nation and not doing well, his numbers are still outstanding. I think it is illogical to say he had great numbers only because he played against bad defenses the last 4 games.

But you are entitled to your opinion and that's mine.
 
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#38
#38
RollerVol said:
stats never tell the "whole" story...he was tough as nails and could take a hit, jump up, and go again...glad he was a Vol...thanks Josh...to me you always will be a VFL...:salute:

GO VOLS...BEAT HUSKERS!
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About stats not telling whole story. They never do for Qbs. For Dobbs, Poor line play, dropped passes, badly run routes, routes run the wrong way (I think I favor his decision on route path over receiver) just cannot look at stats all the time, unless these things can used in findings.
 
#40
#40
fade route said:
Dobbs was not the problem this year.
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JMO, I think he was part of the problem in both the SC and Vandy games. To be fair, in hindsight I believe the Hurd drama had an affect on Josh in that game and he was completely unfocused and made some very poor decisions, 2 of which led to INTs, which were his fault.

I also thought he lost focus in the 2nd half of the Vandy game. You could see it in his demeanor and body language, same as I saw in the SC game. He made a couple of mistakes and seemed to get upset with himself and lost his focus. And our offense always went as Josh went. When he lost focus the offense ground to a halt.

And that is not meant to be a slight to Josh, who has been a huge part of the successes UT has enjoyed the last 3 seasons, and I believe has been a tremendous face of the program since he has been on campus.

And Josh was also obviously not the only problem in those games as we all well know. But despite the defense's woes this season as the injuries mounted up, I still believe we win both of those games if Josh had been fully focused and on his A game.

JMO, TIFWIW, DRCIYD, ABCDEFG.
 
#42
#42
jps2194 said:
Calm down, good grief.

You are essentially saying that because he played against poor defenses the last 4 games, that should be taken into account in his entire body of work. I get what you are saying, but I disagree when looking at what he did for the entire season. Every team faces varying levels of competition. Only looking at a small slice isn't a fair comparison. My point about Bama was in spite of playing against the best D in the nation and not doing well, his numbers are still outstanding. I think it is illogical to say he had great numbers only because he played against bad defenses the last 4 games.

But you are entitled to your opinion and that's mine.
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It's not illogical to say he had his four best statistical games vs 4 of the worst defenses he played all year. He had a very good season overall, but there were clear differences in his performance depending on who he played. This is true of most players, in any sport and it's true here as well.

I originally said was that he was having a fairly pedestrian season statistically until he hit the easiest part of the schedule in terms the collective defenses he played. That's unarguable. Yes, all QBs have similar schedules in terms of strong teams they play and weak teams they play .... and at the end of the day, all games and all statistics count.

But it's a more accurate view and description to dig a little deeper to see when and against whom the best statistical games came against. Josh had great games vs TAM and Florida (2nd half when guys stopped dropping passes) earlier in the season throwing the ball. But what really boosted his numbers this season was the incredible statistical stretch of games to end the year....vs Tenn Tech, Kentucky, Missouri and Vandy. Here are the breakdowns......

First 8 games....
57.1%,
210 yards per game
1.875 TD passes per game
1.375 interceptions per game

Last 4 games....
80.2%
245 yards per game
2.75 TD passes per game
.25 interceptions per game


Please don't perceive this as me trying to diminish or criticize Dobbs. It would be difficult to complete 80% of your passes vs air in a skeleton drill. I'm only providing context to his numbers. He had a very good, improved year, and all QBs pad their numbers vs lesser competition/bad defenses....and that's pretty much what happened with Josh. There's a big difference in trying to complete passes vs Tennessee Tech or Missouri vs trying to complete passes vs Alabama.
 
#46
#46
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Embrassing.

Putrid.

Disgusting.

I can't believe I thought Dobbs could pass the ball.

I'd like to apologize to everyone for everything I said over the summer. This team sucks and this QB is terrible.
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I'll just leave this right here... :pilot:
 
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#47
#47
Glad Dobbs was here. Difference maker in a few games at least. Yes he makes mistakes, he has flaws like everyone else. The main reason I am so glad he was in Orange is his character and heart. You could not ask for a better representative of UT football on or off of the field.

That said, OP should bribe Freak to delete his "other" Dobbs thread.
 
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#49
#49
sona said:
Glad Dobbs was here. Difference maker in a few games at least. Yes he makes mistakes, he has flaws like everyone else. The main reason I am so glad he was in Orange is his character and heart. You could not ask for a better representative of UT football on or off of the field.

That said, OP should bribe Freak to delete his "other" Dobbs thread.
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Well said. I do think we're gonna miss him more than many seem to think. He covered up a lot of offensive deficiencies, in particular the woeful OL, with his ability to make plays. He is special on and off the field. Not sure why kind of pro he's gonna make, but he's an all-time Vol great IMO.
 
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#50
#50
Smokey123 said:
3 wasn't even his fault.

Peyton was top 5 in INT's thrown in both 96 and 97. 96 he had 12, same as Dobbs.
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It evens out because his WR's saved him from atleast 6 I remember this year alone and probably more than that and not to mention all the times he fumbled. That will be one of the things along with accuracy on deep passes he will need to work on if he wants to play in the NFL. But him not having had a real QB Coach hasn't helped so he will definitely benefit from that.
 
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