Despite playing in a spread offense all four years while at Tennessee, former Vol and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Josh Dobbs is surprised with how much he already knows about pro-style offenses.
According to Jacob Klinger, a writer for PennLive.com, Dobbs told him he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of concepts and details he knew about pro-style offenses as a rookie.
Chatted with Joshua Dobbs for a while today, said he’s been pleasantly surprised by the amount of pro/traditional concepts he already knew. pic.twitter.com/tx26ou1b58
— Jacob Klinger (@Jacob_Klinger_) May 24, 2017
Dobbs ran a spread style offense while at Tennessee, and he ran that offense well, especially in his senior season. Dobbs finished his senior year with 2,946 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 63 percent of his passes. Dobbs also set program records as a running quarterback with 831 rushing yards and 12 scores on 150 attempts. In his 37 games as a Vol, Dobbs threw for 7,138 yards, 53 touchdowns, and 29 picks while running for 2,160 yards and 32 scores while averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
But the Steelers don’t run a spread offense. Even with one of the more mobile and rugged quarterbacks in the league in Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh still runs a pro-style offense even if it’s been a little more pass-heavy over the last few seasons. So Dobbs’ extensive knowledge of spread offenses won’t benefit him as much in the NFL as it did in college.
Luckily for both Dobbs and the Steelers, the former Vol quarterback is a quick study. Dobbs, of course, is well known for graduating the University of Tennessee with a degree in aerospace engineering. He’s known as much for his brain as he is his playing ability. That mental prowess apparently translates well from the classroom over to the playing field if Dobbs’ conversation with Jacob Klinger is any indication.
Pittsburgh likely won’t need Dobbs to suit up and play in any meaningful way this season or the next. But the early returns on Dobbs have to be positive for both Steelers fans and the future of the team.
