Joshua Dobbs picked by Pittsburgh Steelers in fourth round
The Pittsburgh Steelers may have found their heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger with Joshua Dobbs in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft…
The quarterbacks in the 2017 NFL Draft didn’t blow anyone away, which is why we’re seeing a bit of a fall for most of them after the initial wave of players were selected in the top 12 on Thursday night. The Pittsburgh Steelers, in search of an heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger, made a bold move at pick no. 135 overall by taking Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs.
Dobbs is a phenomenal athlete and has the talent to eventually be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but he needs seasoning. That’s not uncommon for any quarterback coming into the league, but some worried that Dobbs wasn’t making the necessary progression in his game and that he relied too much on his ability to run with the football.
However, as a senior at Tennessee, Dobbs’ touchdown total went up to 39, and his completion percentage increased from under 60 percent to over 63 percent.
There’s no shortage of news out there about Dobbs’ intelligence off the football field being a real-life rocket scientist at Tennessee, but it’s the combination of intelligence and raw skills that make this an interesting pick.
In the fourth round, there’s very little risk attached for the Steelers. They are getting back Ben Roethlisberger for at least another year, and still have Landry Jones in the fold. Some are already of the opinion, however, that Dobbs will quickly overtake the top backup spot in Pittsburgh and make Jones expendable.
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There’s no question about who has more raw talent, but Jones has the edge obviously in experience.
With the likelihood historically being that Ben Roethlisberger won’t play a full season, will we end up seeing Dobbs on the field as soon as this year?
That’s not out of the question.
In the fourth round, I think this is a slam dunk pick. There were some thinking that Dobbs could end up being a second or third round pick after the whole pre-draft process played out and teams got to know him more, but I think this is a very good spot for him.
He’ll get a chance to develop and perhaps learn on the job a little bit, and with all the talent around him in Pittsburgh, there probably couldn’t be a better situation for him to step into.