Prospect Breakdown: Joshua Dobbs vs Oklahoma
Joshua Dobbs is a name that has gained some steam in the draft community during the off-season. It’s all due to his intriguing potential as a dual-threat NFL quarterback. One of the bigger games this past weekend was Tennessee vs Oklahoma, a battle of top 25 teams. Dobbs showed some ups and downs during this nationally televised game. Let’s take a closer look at how Dobbs fared against this Oklahoma defense.
Dobbs was able to show his running ability from the start with this QB read option. He is a smart runner with the football; you will not see him run reckless in the pocket trying to make a play. He runs when needed or when called upon on a play. This right here was a simple read option, he read the DE saw him commit to the RB and took off for the first down and more.
He took another read option for a five yard touchdown this game. Dobbs did not run much this game but he is a good runner with decent speed.
His first passing TD was a beautiful throw on a QB roll out. This was a great play design by Tennessee; the RB was able to kick out the DE, which allowed Dobbs to step up in the hole and deliver a beautiful throw on the run to the WR. His accuracy is his best throwing attribute in my opinion and this play showed it here.
In the second half Oklahoma started to blitz Dobbs and that caused him to make some erratic throws. When Oklahoma sent four or more rushers at Dobbs, he really was uncomfortable and showed it. He started sailing some throws when facing pressure up front. This play here the edge rusher came in on a stunt and Dobbs felt the pressure and overthrew the WR by about five yards.
The LB came in on a delayed blitz, Dobbs saw him rushing and rushed the throw. Looked like a back shoulder throw but he saw the pressure coming and could not complete the pass. At that point in the game Dobbs was three for his last ten passes. The Sooners defense was getting to him during this game.
Dobbs showed tremendous pocket presence on this play, one of the few plays that he did well against the blitz. His mobility is not being questioned so we should not be shocked to see more of this from Dobbs. It was nice seeing this come against the blitz something he was struggling with all game.
The last play of the game proved to be costly one for Joshua Dobbs and Tennessee. Once again Oklahoma sent five pass rushers, Dobbs stepped up the pocket collapsed and he threw a terrible interception to one of the best ball hawking corner backs in the country in Zack Sanchez. Oklahoma did not capitalize on many of the poor throws Dobbs made but this one they did in Overtime.
This throw should not have been made at all. Sanchez was on the hip of the WR and Dobbs threw it right to him.
Joshua Dobbs finished 13/31 with 125 yards one touchdown, an interception and a 41.9 completion percentage. This was by far the worst game I have seen Dobbs play. The blitz was making him uncomfortable all game long and that will be something he can work on. I am not going to write him off after this game, every QB has an off game once in a while.
Dobbs is one of the better Junior QBs in college football. With a good offense around him, Dobbs will bounce back and improve every game.