Tag: Josh Dobbs

Josh Dobbs lands with 49ers

Dobbs joins an NFC West rival to back up QB Brock Purdy after starting eight games for the Cardinal in 2023.

Quarterback Josh Dobbs is not one of the Arizona Cardinals’ free agents. They traded him to the Minnesota Vikings before the trade deadline.

He has a new team in 2024.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Dobbs is signing with the San Francisco 49ers, getting a fully guaranteed one-year, $2.25 million contract with up to $750,000 in incentives.

He is lined up to be Brock Purdy’s backup for the 49ers.

Dobbs started the first eight games of the season for the Cardinals last season after they acquired him from the Cleveland Browns before the season. He went 1-7, completing 62.8% of his passes for 1,569 yards, eight touchdown passes and five interceptions. He also rushed for three touchdowns.

He was traded to Minnesota with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-rounder and then started three games for the Vikings before getting benched for the final four games of the season.

Now he will get to face the Cardinals (although perhaps not playing) twice in 2024.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Former Vikings QB Josh Dobbs signs one-year deal with 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers signed former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs to a one-year contract

The Minnesota Vikings made a trade at the deadline last year that sparked both life and fun into the season after Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon. That player was quarterback Josh Dobbs, dubbed by some as “The Passtronaut.”

On Monday, Dobbs struck a deal with the San Francisco 49ers for one year and $2.25 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. There is also $750,000 available to Dobbs in playing-time incentives.

It was quite the wild season for Dobbs and the Vikings. He only started four games for the team but will forever live in Vikings lore for his performance off the bench against the Atlanta Falcons, leading a 31-28 comeback victory after only being with the team for five days.

The Vikings signed Sam Darnold this offseason to be the bridge quarterback, and Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall will be competing for a spot on the roster.

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Why 49ers adding QB Josh Dobbs makes sense

Here’s why the #49ers signed another veteran quarterback:

The 49ers are set to sign veteran signal caller Josh Dobbs to a one-year contract. Dobbs’ agent announced the agreement on Twitter Monday afternoon.

Dobbs is the second quarterback the 49ers have signed this offseason. He’ll join Brandon Allen and Brock Purdy in San Francisco’s QB room.

It looked like the 49ers might be content with Allen as their QB2 and a draft pick sitting as the emergency third signal caller. Instead they brought in Dobbs to presumably compete for the backup QB job, leaving Allen to potentially work in as the emergency third QB on game days. That opens the door for a rookie to work out with the practice squad assuming he doesn’t pull a Purdy and beat out one of the veterans for a roster spot out of camp.

Dobbs is an intriguing addition though with plenty of upside. His Cinderella run with the Vikings fell flat after just a couple of weeks, but Dobbs showed during his 12 starts last year with the Cardinals and Vikings that he’s a capable starting QB in the NFL.

There are warts to his game, to be sure. Sometimes he has too much faith in his arm and his accuracy can be erratic, but he’s a mobile QB with enough upside that he’s a viable backup for a team like the 49ers. And backup QB is an extremely important position in San Francisco.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Dobbs will earn $2.25 million fully guaranteed with up to $750,000 in playing time incentives.

Purdy made it easy to forget the 49ers’ recent history with injuries under center. His healthy 2023 campaign though will unlikely erase the scars left by all the previous seasons the 49ers saw derailed because of an injury to the starting QB. They may have confidence that Allen can go win a few games if he’s pushed into a starting role, but he’s hardly done enough as a pro to warrant that level of confidence out of camp.

Now instead of competing with a rookie, he’ll be competing with a bonafide NFL QB who’ll either be better or force Allen to earn the all-important QB2 job.

Adding another quarterback didn’t appear to be super high on the 49ers’ list of offseason needs, but they were able to find a third at an affordable price that should ultimately improve their QB room regardless of whether he winds up as QB2 or QB3.

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Projected market value for Vikings’ top free agents

With NFL free agency less than two weeks out, we took a look at the market values for different Minnesota Vikings free agents

Minnesota Vikings fans have heard it over and over again, but it can’t be overstated how important this off-season is for the franchise’s future. One of the first dominoes to fall is the free agency period, and Minnesota has a lot of difficult decisions to make regarding the franchise’s direction.

Will Kirk Cousins and the front office find common ground on a deal? Can the long-term Viking Danielle Hunter stay in purple for another contract? What will it take to keep K.J. Osborn in the fold?

In this exercise, we find a few examples of what their market value is projected to be from experts in the industry.

Market projections courtesy of Spotrac

CNN interview reveals Kevin O’Connell leads through love and empathy

In an interview with CNN, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell gave some insights into his journey through the NFL and his mentality

In a recent interview with CNN anchor and Minnesota native Poppy Harlow, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell reflected upon his journey through the NFL ranks and towards becoming a head coach in the league. One of the biggest takeaways from the interview was his mentality on leadership, stating that love and empathy are at the forefront for him.

“It’s really what I view as the standard” is how O’Connell put it when asked by Harlow if it’s fair to say his goal is to lead the team with love and empathy, stating that he believes the players can sense they’re getting the “real, authentic” him and respect him for it.

Perhaps the greatest example of O’Connell putting his words into action came earlier this season through the acquisition of former Cardinals quarterback Josh Dobbs. Dobbs was acquired in a mid-season trade and was almost immediately thrust into action for the team.

Prior to Dobbs seeing his first action with the team, O’Connell let the quarterback know “No matter what happens these next two-and-a-half hours, I’m gonna be with ya, every step of the way.” That confidence in his quarterback let Dobbs come in and lead the Vikings to two straight victories under incredible circumstances.

The season didn’t end how Dobbs, O’Connell, or Vikings fans would have wanted, but during a season where the team faced extreme adversity, it was O’Connell’s principles of empathy and leadership through vulnerability that kept the team together and in the playoff hunt until the very end.

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2023 Minnesota Vikings by The Numbers

The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings was one that can’t be forgotten.

Since 2017, there have been 65 teams that have had a winning streak of five or more in a single season. Only ten failed to make the playoffs, including three from 2023: The Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota’s run is a bit more impressive due to two of the wins being with a quarterback in Josh Dobbs, who was in the building for less than two weeks. Like the other two teams, however, the Vikings were victims of a crushing late-season collapse that took them out of the playoff race. 

Don’t let the ending take away from another memorable season for the Vikings.

What started as a simple quest for answers for the franchise’s future became an adventure for the ages, littered with twists and turns suitable for the Alex Rider series. While the ride ended disappointingly, the numbers from this season may have helped the front office to their answers after all.

To explain, we will split this season into four quarters and explain the numbers that coincide with each quarter to come to a conclusion for the future of the Vikings.

(All statistics are from Pro-Football-Reference via Stathead or rbsdm.com, unless otherwise stated.)

2023 season: Vikings biggest surprise performance

Which Minnesota Vikings did our staff believe had the biggest surprise performance in 2023?

The 2023 National Football League season is over for the Minnesota Vikings and now it’s time to reflect on what was and what could have been.

The Vikings had quite the roller coaster ride this season. After starting 1-4, they lost wide receiver Justin Jefferson and went on a five-game winning streak and won six out of their next eight games. They ultimately lost their final four to finish the season 7-10.

As we reflect back on the season that was for the Vikings, we as a staff took a look at it in multiple ways by handing out awards in different categories.

Here are the awards for the biggest surprise performance.

Good, bad and ugly from Vikings 30-20 loss vs. Lions

The Minnesota Vikings folded under the pressure of a must-win situation and missed out on the playoffs. Chris Spooner looks at the good, bad, and ugly from the Vikings 30-20 loss against Detroit.

Well folks, we’ve finally reached the end of the season. With the loss today against the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings have missed the playoffs and their season is officially over.

Even if the Vikings had won today, they didn’t get the help they needed to make the playoffs, as both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints won their games, eliminating the Vikings once again for good measure.

It’s been a frustrating season to say the least, but the fact that Minnesota even had a chance at the playoffs in the final game of the season, given all they’ve had to go through this season, is a remarkable feat in and of itself. It’s important to remember that as we reflect upon the season that was and look ahead towards the season that will be.

But before we get into our off-season coverage, let’s take a minute to look back on the final game of the season against Detroit. Despite the loss, there were a number of good things for the Vikings to take into the offseason, as well as a number of issues they’re going to have to correct for 2024.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the good, bad and ugly from the Vikings 30-20 loss to the Lions.

Josh Dobbs replaces Jaren Hall as QB2 vs. Lions

Josh Dobbs replaces Jaren Hall as the backup quarterback for Sunday’s game

After a disastrous performance against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night football, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Jaren Hall has been replaced as the backup quarterback by Josh Dobbs. Head coach Kevin O’Connell announced the news on Friday afternoon during his press conference.

“We’ll have (Josh) Dobbs as the backup, said O’Connell. “I think Dobbs has been able to go about the week and the process of getting a little bit more reps here and there, spending a little bit of time with Chris and Grant making sure he’s dialed in ready to go. Jaren will be in that emergency third (QB) role. A lot of things go into it, just the idea that third guy cannot go in the game unless there’s been injury to the first two guys. I didn’t think it was fair to Jaren to possibly have him in a situation where unless he’s injured he can’t come out of the game. Just long-term development, still a ton of confidence in where he’s at. I love the way he’s attacked this week and I think any good young player with a bright future, that’s the hope. He knows we support him fully and we’re going to use last week as a long-term learning op.”

This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise after the struggles that Hall had on Sunday. He completed just five-of-10 passes for 67 yards, an interception and a strip fack fumble. It does say something that the team still has confidence in Hall.

Dobbs has been the emergency quarterback since he was demoted after the Vikings 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. With the elevation of Dobbs, it could spell a short leash for starting quarterback Nick Mullens.

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With Steelers win vs. Seahawks, Vikings control their own playoff destiny

The Pittsburgh Steelers pull out the win against the Seattle Seahawks. The Minnesota Vikings now hold their playoff fate in their hands once again.

The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 30-23. With this win, the Minnesota Vikings once again control their destiny again when it comes to the playoff race.

With a win tonight against the Green Bay Packers and another win next week at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions, the Vikings will clinch their spot in the 2023 NFL playoffs.

The Vikings have had a windy, difficult road to the playoffs as they have been battling life without starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, as he left in week eight with a torn Achilles. With three different starters at quarterback, including a rookie (Jaren Hall) and a veteran forced into the game after only five days to study the playbook (Josh Dobbs), this team has had to face significant adversity to get to this point.

Now, their playoff destiny lies in their own hands, with two all-too-familiar opponents in front of them. Minnesota needed help, and they got it. Now it’s time for them to finish the job.

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