Joshua Dobbs has been labeled a backup quarterback (QB) for his whole career. He has started multiple games due to injuries to the franchise’s starting QB. This last week he finished the game for the Minnesota Vikings as he led an incredible comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. But where did Josh Dobbs start?
Josh attended Alpharetta High School, where as a senior he threw for 3,625 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was a 4-star recruit according to scout.com. Josh Dobbs was debating on three different schools to go to for college, Tennessee, Princeton and Stanford, as he wanted to get a degree in aerospace engineering.
He decided to go to the University of Tennessee where he would pursue the degree of aerospace engineering and play QB for the Tennessee Vols. He finished his career as a Vol with a 23-12 record which tied Condredge Holloway (1972-1974) for the fifth most winning QB for the Vols. He had 3,781 yards of total offense (2,946 passing, 831 rushing, and 4 receiving) in 2016, which is the second most in Vols history behind Peyton Manning’s 3,789 in 1997.
In the 2017 draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Dobbs as the 135th overall pick where he would spend the first two seasons of his ongoing career. Dobbs has bounced around multiple different teams in his NFL career, where he has been labeled a “backup QB.”
In the 2023 season, he started the season with the Arizona Cardinals where he had a record of 1-7. Even though the record was not great, he was still able to throw for 1,411 yards and six touchdowns.
On the other hand, The Vikings were starting to catch their groove. But in their win against the Green Bay Packers, starting QB Kirk Cousins got a season ending injury as he tore his achillies. As a result, The Vikings traded for Dobbs but did not start him in their game against the Falcons.
The Vikings started Jaren Hall who ended up getting a concussion in the first half. Dobbs came into the game, where he struggled at first. Viking’s fans were not happy with how he was performing, but Josh Dobbs led them to a game winning drive. With 20 seconds left, he threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Powell to win the game. This blew up on the internet because he didn’t get a single rep with the team during practice.
“I would be a bad teammate today,” stated Dobbs about knowing his teammates names, “That is definitely an assignment for this week.”
Dobbs will more than likely be the starter for the Vikings for the rest of the season as they try to make a postseason push. And for Dobbs, this is a great opportunity to become a starting QB for a franchise even if it is not the Vikings.
