At points during the 2016 season, some questioned if former Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs would be drafted at all.
Then following a hot finish to the season, many analysts agree that Dobbs would be a draftable prospect – possibly one that would go later in the seven-round draft that will take place in late April.
But as the draft approaches and events such as the NFL Scouting Combine, UT’s Pro Day and the Senior Bowl have come and gone, Dobbs’ stock has risen. It’s been commonplace over the past few weeks to project Dobbs as a mid-round pick, perhaps going in the third or fourth round. The buzz surrounding him, however, continues to grow in the days leading up to the draft, which begins next Thursday evening in Philadelphia.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper said last week that Dobbs could go as high as the second round. Now Kiper’s colleague, Todd McShay, has taken it to a new level. McShay went on the Mike and Mike show on Thursday and suggested that Dobbs could be picked even as high as the top 32 picks.
“I also think Josh Dobbs from Tennessee is going to go early second round if he doesn’t sneak into the late first,” McShay said, via ESPN Radio.
Whether or not that’s realistic remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Dobbs has rocketed up draft boards, at least in the eyes of some key analysts. And he is an enigmatic prospect in a sense – one with incredible upside athletically and great intangibles, but also one who struggled to make some basic throws on a consistent basis at times in 2016.
But NFL teams wo;; likely see his tools, his intelligence and his overall upside and wonder what they could develop him into. First round might be a bit ambitious, but it won’t be surprising at all to see Dobbs come off the board relatively early next week.
