Way way to early on Dobbs

We have the luxury of seeing how Dobbs does over the rest of the season, but he's been incredible so far. The offense is looking the best it has all season and that is without Jefferson, Osborn, and Akers. His mobility has been a game changer so far. He does a great job of turning broken plays into big gains on the ground that Cousins just can't do. As a passer he's been killing teams on mid range routes and that TD pass to Hockenson up the seam was nice.

Credit goes to the coaching staff too for how they've adapted quickly to Dobbs and have done an amazing job at putting him in position to succeed.

@"Tyr" said: We have the luxury of seeing how Dobbs does over the rest of the season, but he's been incredible so far. The offense is looking the best it has all season and that is without Jefferson, Osborn, and Akers. His mobility has been a game changer so far. He does a great job of turning broken plays into big gains on the ground that Cousins just can't do. As a passer he's been killing teams on mid range routes and that TD pass to Hockenson up the seam was nice.

Credit goes to the coaching staff too for how they've adapted quickly to Dobbs and have done an amazing job at putting him in position to succeed.

 When was the last time?  Denny?

Dobbs has come back to Earth

Dobbs is the man.

Vikings may have a starter and a back up.in Hall 

Holy shit Josh Dobbs. What a dominating first half performance. KOC doesn't turtle up the 2nd half, who knows what his stats would have looked like. Amazing. 

@"StickyBun" said: Holy shit Josh Dobbs. What a dominating first half performance. KOC doesn't turtle up the 2nd half, who knows what his stats would have looked like. Amazing. 

Imagine what we could do with JJ McCarthy who's a better passer than Dobbs but can run like him...

@"AGRforever" said: But did the Vikings just luck into something incredible?  Could this be our Purdy?  Not the top 10 QB, but certainly good enough to make you comfortable at the QB position. 

Could you imagine what you could do with Cousins money and not worry about needing to pick a QBofTF?

Way to early to put him in the HOF yes, but it's only a matter of time BABY! DOBBS SZN IS HERE FELLAS!!
Helluva run at the top for Mahomes. Cap tip / nothing but respect. But that's over now. Dobbs has arrived! :p

I agree with @TYR, Vikings have the lux of the rest of the season to see what they got in Dobbs.

No pressure to do anything but live week to week and take their time assessing what they got. 

I'm not ready to say Dobbs is our future, but we may see a situation where Hall is going to get Pipp'ed. 

@"Wetlander" said: Imagine what we could do with JJ McCarthy who's a better passer than Dobbs but can run like him...

@"purplefaithful" said: I agree with @TYR, Vikings have the lux of the rest of the season to see what they got in Dobbs.

No pressure to do anything but live week to week and take their time assessing what they got. 

I'm not ready to say Dobbs is our future, but we may see a situation where Hall is going to get Pipp'ed.

Playing football like chess, Joshua Dobbs takes center stage for the VikingsWhat has catapulted Dobbs from benched journeyman in Arizona to scrambling savior in Minnesota is his intelligence and his ability to put his mind to work on the field.Joshua Dobbs studied aerospace engineering at Tennessee and earned a 4.0 GPA while playing quarterback. He has every right to answer every football question by sneering, "It's not rocket science."

Playing quarterback in the NFL requires intelligence, but there are different shades of smart, and not all of them translate into reading a defense or ducking a forearm. Otherwise, Bill Gates would be the first pick in every fantasy football draft.
Playing chess requires strategic awareness. Being an NFL quarterback means playing a form of chess in which the opposing pieces move at high speed while threatening violence.
What has catapulted Dobbs from benched journeyman in Arizona to scrambling savior in Minnesota is the ability to blend both types of brainpower. He's smart during the week and before the snap. He's also smart, in a more instinctive way, when running.
Dobbs' various flavors of intelligence have allowed him to enter a game last weekend in Atlanta with a bare-bones understanding of the Vikings offense and his teammates' names, to start against a Saints defense that had studied his tendencies all week and to thrive in both situations.
On Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, Dobbs helped the Vikings defeat the Saints 27-19by producing a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. Through a little more than a game and a half in the Vikings lineup, he has produced five touchdowns and a two-point conversion without throwing an interception.
He didn't play a full first half against the Falcons, and the Vikings offense turned cautious with a big lead in the second half against the Saints. Here's what Dobbs did in consecutive halves (the second half against Atlanta and the first half against New Orleans) in which the offense was motivated to score:
He completed 33 of 55 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns, and he rushed 11 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
That kind of play, extrapolated over a full season, would earn Dobbs about $3 billion in free agency, especially when considering that he has thrived without Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson. 
If the Vikings rebounding from 1-4 to win five straight games without Jefferson isn't the best story in the NFL, it's only because Dobbs has claimed the top spot.
"For him to throw strikes with all the pressure he's had on him, it's just special to watch and be a part of," tight end T.J. Hockenson said.
"We've got play calls that are a paragraph long," receiver Brandon Powell said. "If he can get the playbook down in two weeks, we should go out and make plays for him."
"He's my locker mate,'' said cornerback Mekhi Blackmon. "I get to see him go about his business, and, man, he is smart. Crazy smart."
Dobbs said he had cause to pinch himself on Friday afternoon. He had moved out of the hotel adjacent to the practice facility, run into a few Vikings legends and completed his first full week of preparation as the Vikings starter.
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell lauded Dobbs for "living" at the facility all week.
"I'm not paid by the hour," Dobbs said with a smile. "I have nowhere else to be. I spent a lot of time at the facility. I probably ate every meal there, which is fine, man. I'm blessed to be in the position I'm in."
Dobbs puts himself in some wild positions, dipping between defenders, spinning 360 degrees to escape pressure, tight-roping along the sideline to score. Does intelligence help him sprint and scramble, or does he have to shut off his brain when in motion?
"You've still got to be smart," he said. "There are some headhunters out there. You've got to get down and protect yourself and understand when I've gotten the most out of this run … or I haven't and I can go and try to make another guy miss.
"Whether you're in the pocket, throwing the ball, picking apart defenses or using your legs, you've always got to play that game of chess."
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-quarterback-josh-dobbs-saints-falcons-jim-souhan/600319246/

The second half was rougher for Dobbs. New Orleans did a good job of adjusting on defense and they were forcing Minnesota into 3rd and longs and their pass rush was making him uncomfortable. It did not help that Hockenson was banged up and that the running game is not strong enough to protect the lead. I'm hoping that by next week he'll have Jefferson and Osborn back and while he is a QB that favors the TE, the matchups in the secondary should be much more favorable.

And the honeymoon locally continues...

It’s been a memorable couple of weeks for Dobbs since after arriving in Minnesota at the trade deadline. He went from being a potential replacement for injured quarterback Kirk Cousins to the talk of the NFL after miraculously leading the Vikings to a 31-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons last weekend.
Not that Dobbs gave himself much time to celebrate. He immediately started preparing for the next game on the schedule. That meant long nights at the practice facility last week to make sure he had a full grasp of the game plan the Vikings were going to deploy against the Saints.
“I’m not paid by the hour,” Dobbs said with a laugh. “I have nowhere else to be.
That preparation resulted in a statement game from Dobbs on Sunday as he finished 23 of 34 for 268 yards and a touchdown through the air, while adding 44 yards and another touchdown on the ground. He’s not just a good story. He’s a good quarterback.
That was the message from head coach Kevin O’Connell postgame. After literally having to help Dobbs read coverages last weekend via the headset in his helmet last weekend, O’Connell had more normal interactions with him this weekend as he called plays from the sideline.
“He handled a full game plan today,” O’Connell said. “It was Josh Dobbs out there playing quarterback.”

“You can’t think the play is over with him,” said Hockenson, who battled through a rib injury, and finished with 11 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown. “It’s a little like street ball which is fun. You’ve just got to continue to play through the whistle. You just never know what’s going to happen.”


The next drive was even more impressive as Dobbs spread the wealth, completing passes to Hockenson, rookie receiver Jordan Addison and veteran receiver Brandon Powell.
On the scoring play, however, Dobbs did it himself. He reversed out of the pocket, hit the gas to get to the edge, then scampered into the end zone to stretch the lead to 17-3. In the aftermath of that play, O’Connell took a moment to look around at the home crowd, which Dobbs had eating out of the palm of his hand.
“I like to fist pump with the best of them,” O’Connell said. “That was one where I was just kind of like, ‘Wow.'”
That wonderment hit another level as soon as Dobbs got the ball back before halftime. He promptly led the Vikings on a march down the field It culminated with Dobbs lofting a perfect pass to Hockenson for a 28-yard touchdown that made it 24-3.
“It was a pretty outstanding day from Josh,” O’Connell said. “The best thing about it is we’re all still getting to know each other and getting the comfort level where we can continue to apply layers to this thing to be the most successful we can be on offense.”
https://www.twincities.com/2023/11/12/josh-dobbs-captivates-minnesota-while-leading-vikings-to-win-over-saints/

Yeah, Dobbs is playing out of his mind and I loved every minute of it!  He's a dangerous QB, and the Saints know it.

Dobbs may very well be Keenum 2.0 this year.  A guy who's historically not that great that catches lightning in a bottle and plays way above his level for a time   

@"CFIAvike" said: Dobbs may very well be Keenum 2.0 this year.  A guy who's historically not that great that catches lightning in a bottle and plays way above his level for a time   

@"Skodin" said:

@"CFIAvike" said: Dobbs may very well be Keenum 2.0 this year.  A guy who's historically not that great that catches lightning in a bottle and plays way above his level for a time   

Or he might be a pretty good QB with the right team around him and the right coaches.  He's also cheaper than the immobile pocket passer so he gives you flexibility to draft a QB if you want.   Pretty good place for this team to be.

@"CFIAvike" said:

@"Skodin" said:

@"CFIAvike" said: Dobbs may very well be Keenum 2.0 this year.  A guy who's historically not that great that catches lightning in a bottle and plays way above his level for a time   

Or he might be a pretty good QB with the right team around him and the right coaches.  He's also cheaper than the immobile pocket passer so he gives you flexibility to draft a QB if you want.   Pretty good place for this team to be.

I guess we'll see, but his entire history in the NFL leans to my theory. And if he IS that great , what makes you think he's not gonna take this front office to the cleaners when they have to try to re-sign him next year.  If he really is THAT good he's gonna demand to be paid more than the 15th highest paid QB in the NFL.