Pittsburgh Steelers: Is Joshua Dobbs the quarterback of the future?
We’ve already looked at the Pittsburgh Steelers top four picks in the 2017 NFL Draft, but the team’s fifth selection may hold the most intrigue.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers selected University of Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs with their fourth-round pick back on April 29, you could hear the ooohs and ahhs. Is the talented performer eventually going to wind up the heir apparent to prolific field-general Ben Roethlisberger?
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Earlier this year, there was all that talk about the 13-year pro pondering his football future. Could that mean the end is near for the productive passer?
Well, no one plays forever (although Drew Brees and Tom Brady seem to want to test that theory). In any case, Mike Tomlin’s club appears set behind center. This offseason, the team re-signed backup Landry Jones. And after they selected Dobbs in the draft, they released quarterback Zach Mettenberger. Pittsburgh also added former Clemson quarterback and undrafted free agent Nick Schuessler.
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The numbers for the 6-3, 210-pound prospect are very interesting. In his first two seasons with the Volunteers, he played in a total of 11 games. Dobbs threw for a total of 1,901 yards and 11 scores compared to a dozen interceptions. But it is worth noting that he ran for a combined 658 yards and nine touchdowns — eight of those scoring runs coming in his sophomore campaign.
Now take a look at the stats from his junior and senior seasons combined. The 22-year old signal-caller played in 26 contests and served up more than twice as many scoring tosses (42) as picks (17). What made Dobbs even more dangerous were his running skills. He combined for 1,502 yards on the ground and 23 touchdowns.
Dobbs is an intriguing prospect and the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers were high on him is a good thing for the young man. He’s going to get a chance to learn behind one of the best quarterback in the league.
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Could he press Jones for the backup job? That’s why there’s training camp and the preseason. He has his flaws, but also has the smarts and physical pedigree to at least get people talking in 2017 and moving forward.