Last Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings traded for Josh Dobbs, who had started every game for the Arizona Cardinals this season. After losing Kirk Cousins to a ruptured Achilles, the Vikings planned to have Dobbs sit for at least a week as they prepared rookie QB Jaren Hall to start against the Atlanta Falcons.
Hall’s preparations meant Dobbs didn’t get any prep with Minnesota’s offense. He hadn’t even taken a snap from Vikings’ center Garrett Bradbury, let alone had time to develop any rapport throwing to Minnesota’s receiving options, by the time the Week 9 game kicked off.
Dobbs’ performance after Hall left the game due to a concussion on Minnesota’s second drive was impressive in its own right. However, it was more due to the lack of preparation described above. In his post-game press conference, Kevin O’Connell complimented Dobbs’ ability to transmit a play call he didn’t really understand to the offense. He had to process the information O’Connell spoke into his headset, explaining the play and giving him some basic instructions. Dobbs compared it to preparing for an AP Spanish test and instead receiving the AP French test.
Dobbs wasn’t perfect in the game. He got sacked for a safety and fumbled on his first two drives. He also lost another fumble later in the game. However, Dobbs played better in the second half. He led an 11-play, 75-yard two-minute drill drive that culminated in a touchdown to win the game for Minnesota.
Let’s go to the tape to see what we can learn about Dobbs from the final drive. We’ll see what he does well, how the Vikings’ play design helped him, and how he might improve as he gets more time in the offense.
Movement to set up a throw
The Vikings ran on the first play of the drive but then put the ball in Dobbs’ hands for the rest of it. On his first passing attempt, he hit a return route to Jordan Addison on the play below. The Falcons are running what looks like quarters with a box adjustment to bunch, which means that old friend Mike Hughes is in coverage on Addison after the route distribution. Addison is running a return route, which initially breaks out toward the sideline before coming back in. In Dobbs’ headset, O’Connell likely instructed him to hold onto this route, which should easily come open against outside leverage. The other option is T.J. Hockenson on the corner, but A.J. Terrell has a cap on that route.
When Dobbs drops back, his eyes are locked on Addison, who will very clearly come open based on the way Hughes played it. That means Dobbs just needs to buy time for the route, and he does so by sliding to his left before making the throw below:
Trusting advantageous matchups
After the play above, the Vikings gave Dobbs three consecutive 2×2 looks with Addison and Hockenson, the offense’s two best players, on the same side, and enabled him to trust them to win against the coverage. In the play below, the Falcons run what looks like another quarters look. Importantly, they only have two defenders near the line of scrimmage to Dobbs’ right. This means that when Jeff Okudah follows Addison vertically, Hockenson has an easy matchup against an LB in Kaden Elliss. The Vikings love giving Hockenson option routes. In this case, he breaks outside with Elliss lined up to his inside.
It’s an easy win for Hockenson and an easy read for Dobbs, who throws the ball as he hits his back foot and completes it for a first down:
Processing and Arm Talent
On the next play, the Vikings are running a four verticals concept against Cover 2 from the Falcons. The weakness in Cover 2 is the hole shot, the space between the outside corner and deep safety. Being able to hit this type of throw is a good litmus test for whether or not a QB has the arm strength to make it in the NFL, and Dobbs executes that here. It also shows that he could process the defense, as the throw has a specific timing window. Dobbs hits the top of his drop, hitches up aggressively twice, and delivers a throw where only Addison can make a play on the ball.
Addison makes a spectacular catch through contact, and the Vikings are across the 50:
PRECision comes with time
Despite the win, there were some clear areas of improvement from Dobbs in this game. That’s to be expected because his circumstances were challenging. Hopefully, he will grow in his understanding of the offense. Perhaps then he will start hitting some of the windows he missed and improve his accuracy as he gains rapport with his receivers.
The play below is a third-and-seven, and the Vikings must keep the drive moving. The Falcons blitz and Dobbs does a good job of getting on the move away from the rush. The blitz leaves Brandon Powell a bunch of space over the middle of the field. Dobbs sees it but completely sails the throw over Powell’s head. The play below may not be an issue that is fixed with time, but the mental load Dobbs was asked to take on may have contributed to the miss. There were smaller, timing-based issues earlier in the game that I do expect to get better with more time on task for Dobbs.
Athleticism can’t be coached
On the play after that miss, Dobbs showed the one trait where he is a clear upgrade over Cousins: his athleticism. The Vikings run a deep three-level flood concept, and the Falcons have it well covered downfield. Dobbs wouldn’t have had time to make a throw regardless. Bud Dupree beats LT David Quessenberry, who’s replacing the injured Christian Darrisaw, around the edge on a deep dropback.
Dobbs impressed all day with his scrambling ability and rushed for 66 yards and a TD on seven attempts. The scramble below, his longest of the day at 22 yards, shows off that ability. Dobbs breaks Dupree’s grasp and then accelerates past two other defenders to reach the sticks. Even that’s not all, as Dobbs sidesteps a tackle attempt by Terrell and works through Jessie Bates III before finally stepping out of bounds at the 12 — a truly impressive play.
Accepting REAL-TIME coaching
In his postgame press conference, Dobbs mentioned that he had seen the play the Vikings ran for the game-winning TD in practice. However, he had never run it himself. In his ear, O’Connell instructed him to look right and then go back to the left to Brandon Powell against the Falcons quarters look. The nickel DB should be frozen by Dobbs looking right, and Powell should come open.
Watching the play, you can see that’s exactly what happens. Dobbs quickly looks right, and it freezes Hughes in place, leaving Powell open. Dobbs fires the throw in, and Powell jumps to catch it for the TD.
Dobbs may have had the answer to this play in his ear. However, his ability to translate that to a play on the field where he has to drop back, stick in a tight pocket, and deliver a pass to a receiver he had not thrown before to warmups that day in less than three seconds was nothing short of incredible.
conclusion
Dobbs leading the Minnesota Vikings to victory against the Atlanta Falcons was nothing short of incredible after arriving on Tuesday and taking no practice reps with the team. Dobbs showed the capacity to process a massive amount of information quickly and took that coaching really well to execute the Vikings offense. Dobbs showed the ability to trust Minnesota’s best playmakers, Addison and Hockenson, to win, and got them the ball.
When Dobbs wasn’t sure what he was looking at, understandable for someone in his position, he could use his legs to make spectacular plays.
Dobbs is slated to start against the New Orleans Saints next week, and there is certainly room for him to grow within this offense. There were multiple situations where he missed open throws. However, we can’t be critical about that until he has some time to actually digest Minnesota’s offense.
As the season goes on, we should look for Dobbs beginning to see and make those throws and use his athleticism as a supplement to passing rather than as the dominant force that led the team to victory. If Dobbs can learn the offense and make accurate, on-time throws, the Vikings have a team that should still be able to compete in the NFC.
