Joshua Dobbs Explains Decision on New Team
He wants to play in the postseason consistently.
Joshua Dobbs Explains Decision on New Team
Joshua Dobbs signed with the San Francisco 49ers last month, on tap to battle for a QB2 job behind upstart passer Brock Purdy. The Minnesota Vikings evidently didn’t have a strong desire for a Dobbs reunion, and the once-otherworldly passer hit the NFL’s marketplace.
The 49ers are one of the sport’s sturdiest franchises at the moment, meaning Dobbs and his teammates should routinely stay in the hunt for the playoffs and Super Bowl in 2024 and beyond. And that nugget appealed to Dobbs.
“It’s exactly what I want to be around. At this stage of my career, I just want an opportunity to get to the dance in whatever aspect, whatever role that takes, just to taste it. And so to join a team that’s done it, my mentality is whatever I can do to help, get back there, and then go from there,” Dobbs told NBC Sports this week.
Dobbs set the world on fire — for about three weeks — last season, guiding the Vikings to two unforeseen victories versus the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. The wins helped keep Minnesota’s season afloat and even gave the Vikings an over 80% chance of reaching the postseason (at the time).
Minnesota lost former QB1 Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles rupture in late October, and in an attempt to keep the season afloat because QB2 Nick Mullens was also injured, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah fired off a low-risk trade with the Arizona Cardinals for Dobbs. Adofo-Mensah sent a 6th-Round draft pick to the desert in exchange for Dobbs and a conditional 7th-Rounder.
Dobbs failed to generate chemistry with Jordan Addison, didn’t excel throwing outside the numbers, and left Justin Jefferson out to dry with an errant pass at the Denver Broncos. Head coach Kevin O’Connell benched Dobbs mid-game the following game at the Las Vegas Raiders, Nick Mullens joined the lineup, the Vikings beat Las Vegas, and Dobbs was never heard from again. That was also the Vikings’ final win of 2023.
Dobbs added about his Bay area landing spot, “I understand Brock is the guy. Brock’s been balling. It’s been cool to see what he’s been doing, so however I can contribute to the room, that’s my mindset, and that’s my mentality. So I’m excited.”
The Dobbs trade turned out to be next to free for the Vikings, too. He needed to play 55% of the Vikings’ offensive snaps for the Cardinals to retain the 7th-Round selection in this year’s draft. That did not happen.
Meanwhile, Minnesota signed Sam Darnold in March — the 49ers’ QB2 last year — so the two clubs effectively swapped backup quarterbacks.
Dobbs will turn 30 next January.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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