I agree that the OL has been bad, but the reason we see 7+ guys in the box is because Dobbs is not a good passer. When you watch the games, listen to the announcers and you will often hear about a bad throw, a poor decision on where to throw it, a decision to hold the ball too long, etc.
Every snap is from the shotgun giving Dobbs extra time to throw as you eliminate the drop back. Dobbs does a poor job reading defenses, cannot throw the ball with any consistency over 8 yards, and often forces throws due to a bad read or a bad decision. He has 11 INTs and a number of fumbles already this year and is, statisitically speaking, having the worst season of his career as his adj QBR is nearly 20 points below last year (
Joshua Dobbs Stats, News, Videos, Pictures, Bio - Tennessee Volunteers - ESPN).
Peyton Manning, in his college days, would not struggle nearly as much with this line. He has a quicker release, reads defenses much, much better, could throw all passes in the passing tree, audibles to change to passing plays when facing 7+ in the box, etc. How many times do you see Dobbs throw deep to our receivers when you see man coverage without safety support over the top? Many QBs would make that throw to allow the receiver to make a play or at least knock the ball down.
Our coaches have no faith in Dobbs passing the ball until we get behind in games and have no choice. To me, it looks like we play to keep games close and only gamble throwing the ball downfield when we get significantly behind. This style demonstrates the lack of faith in our passing game and the fear of turnovers. Dobbs does a good job with his feet, but I don't think he makes correct decisions on the zone read plays either. It looks like most are actually called handoffs or keeps as opposed to actually reading the defense.
Did Dobbs bring us back in several games this year? Absolutely!! However, we may not have been in that position of needing a comeback without the turnovers and lack of a passing QB.