Nov 27, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs (15) warms up earlier than the sport between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears at U.S. Financial institution Stadium. credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports activities Each preseason, just a few gamers seize the hearts of America for just a few weeks earlier than falling again to irrelevancy.
For the previous few years, Joshua Dobbs has been a key a part of that dialog.
The Passtronaut has been within the league for seven years now and has began simply 14 video games. He’s a preseason icon who lights it up each August, simply to bounce round groups as a backup and apply squad participant through the common season.
The Steelers drafted Dobbs out of Tennessee within the fourth spherical of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He was instantly named the beginning quarterback for Pittsburgh’s preseason opener towards the New York Giants, and that sport was the beginning of an iconic stretch of preseason greatness.
Dobbs caught on Pittsburgh’s roster because the third-string quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger’s longtime backup, Landry Jones. In 2018, Dobbs really needed to step in for Roethlisberger, and was on the Jacksonville Jaguars the following season.
He then bounced round from the Cleveland Browns, one other stint with the Steelers, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, one other stint with the Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings and now the San Francisco 49ers, the place Dobbs is balling out within the preseason once more.
Dobbs was so good for the Browns within the 2023 preseason that they had been capable of commerce him to the Arizona Cardinals for a fifth-round choose. A participant that the Browns signed as a free agent was capable of be flipped for a fifth-rounder after only a few preseason video games.
That’s how dominant he’s this time of yr.
Dobbs began the season for the Cardinals out of shear desperation once they misplaced Kyler Murray for the season. The tanking Cardinals traded Dobbs to the Minnesota Vikings in October final yr, and he instantly stepped in for Kirk Cousins.
When the chance presents itself, Dobbs finds a approach to rise to the event and shine.
He signed a one-year deal price $2.25 million to affix the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, and he’s at the moment in a battle with Brandon Allen for the backup quarterback job.
Allen spent final yr backing up Brock Purdy, however Dobbs is shining once more within the preseason. It’s going to be exhausting for Kyle Shanahan and the Niners brass to disregard what Dobbs can do along with his legs and the thrill that his athleticism brings to the offense. It’s a whole change of tempo from Purdy.
It’s insane how exhausting Dobbs has to work to safe these backup quarterback jobs. If he has to start out a bunch of video games, your staff might be in some severe bother. Nonetheless, he’s one of many best preseason heroes of our time and deserves to be rewarded for giving us one thing to speak about amidst these in any other case boring video games.
