Is Joshua Dobbs’ heavy workload a surprise?
“Breaking News” might not be the best way to describe the following statement, but rookie quarterback Joshua Dobbs has been a polarizing Pittsburgh Steeler ever since being drafted.
If you followed along with the site throughout our draft coverage, you already know how I feel about Dobbs. I made it fairly obvious that I wanted the Steelers to target the Tennessee prospect at some point in the upcoming draft. While at the same time, I understood the popular opinion of not wanting to use a draft pick on a quarterback this year, for the most part.
The one thing I refused to understand, though, was the theory that a raw player like Dobbs would not be able to grow in Pittsburgh due to lack of repetitions and playing time in both practice and game settings. The idea that Pittsburgh would spend as high as a fourth round pick (which they did) on a quarterback, just to let him sit on the side and not even try to learn, blows my mind.
This was not a seventh round flyer pick, or an undrafted free agent signing ladies and gentlemen. The Steelers clearly had, and currently have, a plan for their young quarterback, and that is to develop; Into what? I honestly don’t think the team knows that yet! But I’m sure they would like to find out, especially after using as high of a pick as they did on him.
Since Dobbs has been selected by the Steelers, we have seen a mixed-bag of treats from the quarterback. There have been some poor decisions, followed by some pretty passes and improvisation. Practice reports have been similar, often referring to the young buck as “inconsistent.”
The important thing, however, is this: Josh Dobbs is learning due to a surplus of reps.
Dobbs has gotten these reps due to a few different scenarios. Landry Jones is normally the backup quarterback but has been out with an injury. Veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been given his usual off time. Granted, no one could have foreseen Landry getting hurt, resulting in more reps for Dobbs. On the other side, Roethlisberger (especially at this stage of his career) plays minimal preseason snaps so that should have been considered.
I think it’s safe to say we all have seen what Jones can do. Jones is the perfect backup quarterback; he can come in for a game and get you a win or two, everybody already knows that. I find it very hard to believe they were going to give Jones anywhere near the number of snaps he received during the 2016 preseason (where he led ALL quarterbacks in snaps played), even if he was healthy. There is nothing left to discover about his playing ability.
Pittsburgh is also one of the few fan bases in the NFL going through the harsh reality of believing their long term franchise quarterback is pondering retirement. Yes, the city of champions has been “hashtag blessed” by the circus of Ben Roethlisberger retirement comments this past off-season.
The verdict is still out on how much longer we all get to see the future Hall of Famer on the field, but his doubts on playing beyond 2017 were known well before the draft. The fact that this was known by the team only furthers my reasoning to suggest that Pittsburgh had a plan to get Dobbs experience. They very well could need to target another quarterback high in next year’s draft if Dobbs doesn’t show anything promising.
But how would Pittsburgh even find that out, without getting him experience and reps? If they did not have a plan for their 4th round pick, then it really would have been a dumb pick!
I like to give the Steelers and their front office a lot more credit than that. Believing Dobbs was a waste of a pick as soon as it happened is like believing Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin threw darts blindfolded at pictures of prospects and happened to hit him. They certainly didn’t pick him to gather dust in the corner. They need to find out what they have in the rookie, and they know that.
Landry Jones is participating in practice this afternoon.
— Missi Matthews (@missi_matthews) August 16, 2017
Jones did return to practice on Wednesday, but whether he’ll be ready to face the Falcons on Sunday at Heinz Field has yet to be decided. Roethlisberger has already been ruled ‘out’ (shocker), which was going to happen whether Jones could go or not. Even if Jones musters up the strength to play on Sunday, I expect at least a quarter of playing time to go to Dobbs, probably more.
When it’s all said and done, the signs of Pittsburgh having a drawn out plan for Dobbs far outweighs the assumption that he is only gaining experience due to an injury to Jones. ‘Big Ben’ doesn’t do preseason snaps, and Jones is who we thought he was.
Roethlisberger could be done as a Steeler as soon as next year (not that I want that), and the franchise needs to see what Dobbs can do before spending another high pick on a quarterback.
So is it really that surprising Josh Dobbs has gotten so many reps, on a team close to searching for their next quarterback? Is it really that surprising the team has a plan for their fourth round pick? I just don’t buy that. Here’s to continuing to watch Josh Dobbs grow as a Steeler, like Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin intended.
