Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
I still can’t believe the Cards traded for Dobbs. He’s a smart guy who actually did study rocket science. However, his NFL career is more like, “Houston, we have a problem.”
My main concern is if you look at the criticisms scouts made when Dobbs came out, they are still true. I had to chuckle when people talked about Tune overthrowing short receivers. Dobbs overthrows everyone. Thats why they try to avoid him throwing patterns of 10 yds or more in the middle of the field. Even shorter throws are often high. Consider the potential TD throw to Ertz. To close out his senior year in college he had a near double digit interception rate on his throws over 10 yards. In the 9 NFL games he’s played, he only had 3 interceptions. However, he had a long pass of 39 yds and averaged less than 10 yards a throw. Like the Cards, teams didn’t like him throwing long. The problem is partly his footwork. He still often throws off balance. He also has a tendency to apparently decide where he’s going to throw before the snap. Consequently he fails to throw to multiple open receivers as he did in his Cards’ debut.
Then there’s ball security. In 9 NFL games (3 starts)he fumbled 7 times. To put that in perspective, we complained about Murray’s ball security. He fumbled 35 times in 57 starts. Dobbs cost the Titans the playoffs with his last Tennessee fumble.
Finally, even in college his ball placement was bad. He doesn’t throw those frozen ropes good QBs toss. He more often floats the ball. The longer the play lasts, the more likely he seems to get confused about defender position. He’s especially blind to see defenders closing from the opposite direction the receivers are heading.
Finally there are poise concerns. Most QBs do better when not under pressure. Dobbs seems unusually vulnerable. He’ll wait on his chosen receiver too long. He also waits too long to abandon a collapsing pocket, exposing him to turnovers. If 4 other teams haven’t fixed his issues, why assume the Cards can?
In the end there are QB problems you can solve easily. Those aren’t the problem Dobbs has. There are QBs who seem to quickly adjust to needed mechanical changes; that’s not Dobbs. The longer problems exist; the harder they are to fix. Dobbs has had these problems from college onward. He’s not an NFL starter and 4 teams believed he wasn’t an NFL backup. On of the big causes of coaching failure is when coaches believe they are smarter than everyone else. If they really believe Dobbs is an NFL starter, this is a truly major concern. Hopefully it’s all about tanking.
My main concern is if you look at the criticisms scouts made when Dobbs came out, they are still true. I had to chuckle when people talked about Tune overthrowing short receivers. Dobbs overthrows everyone. Thats why they try to avoid him throwing patterns of 10 yds or more in the middle of the field. Even shorter throws are often high. Consider the potential TD throw to Ertz. To close out his senior year in college he had a near double digit interception rate on his throws over 10 yards. In the 9 NFL games he’s played, he only had 3 interceptions. However, he had a long pass of 39 yds and averaged less than 10 yards a throw. Like the Cards, teams didn’t like him throwing long. The problem is partly his footwork. He still often throws off balance. He also has a tendency to apparently decide where he’s going to throw before the snap. Consequently he fails to throw to multiple open receivers as he did in his Cards’ debut.
Then there’s ball security. In 9 NFL games (3 starts)he fumbled 7 times. To put that in perspective, we complained about Murray’s ball security. He fumbled 35 times in 57 starts. Dobbs cost the Titans the playoffs with his last Tennessee fumble.
Finally, even in college his ball placement was bad. He doesn’t throw those frozen ropes good QBs toss. He more often floats the ball. The longer the play lasts, the more likely he seems to get confused about defender position. He’s especially blind to see defenders closing from the opposite direction the receivers are heading.
Finally there are poise concerns. Most QBs do better when not under pressure. Dobbs seems unusually vulnerable. He’ll wait on his chosen receiver too long. He also waits too long to abandon a collapsing pocket, exposing him to turnovers. If 4 other teams haven’t fixed his issues, why assume the Cards can?
In the end there are QB problems you can solve easily. Those aren’t the problem Dobbs has. There are QBs who seem to quickly adjust to needed mechanical changes; that’s not Dobbs. The longer problems exist; the harder they are to fix. Dobbs has had these problems from college onward. He’s not an NFL starter and 4 teams believed he wasn’t an NFL backup. On of the big causes of coaching failure is when coaches believe they are smarter than everyone else. If they really believe Dobbs is an NFL starter, this is a truly major concern. Hopefully it’s all about tanking.
