Joshua Dobbs Ends Up with Fun NFL Team
Joshua Dobbs won’t see a Year No. 2 in Minnesota, but his 2024 team will probably achieve better results.
Joshua Dobbs Ends Up with Fun NFL Team
Dobbs will join the San Francisco 49ers, presumably as a QB2 or QB3 behind Brock Purdy and possibly Brandon Allen.
NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo tweeted Monday evening, “The 49ers have agreed to terms with QB Josh Dobbs, per his agent Mike McCartney.”
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.
The trade turned out to be next to free. Dobbs 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.
After the Cousins injury on October 29th, Minnesota started rookie passer Jaren Hall for two drives at Atlanta before a concussion knocked him out of the lineup. Dobbs entered the mix and dazzled. He looked like an unabashed Pro Bowler for a day, only studying the Vikings’ playbook in broad strokes before insertion into the lineup. DobbsMania fully engulfed the state of Minnesota and the NFL on the whole. The veteran passer then helped the Vikings win the following game at home versus the New Orleans Saints, and Dobbs played a major role in the dub.
Then, the tires burned up.
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 Sunday 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.
This offseason, Dobbs hit free agency and didn’t gain much attention during the first wave last week. But now he’s a 49er, and that should almost guarantee a deep postseason run in 2024 and beyond.
San Francisco’s offense ranked tops in the NFL last season per DVOA.
The 49ers also employ former Vikings defensive tackle T.Y. McGill.
Vikings Make Rare Announcement
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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