Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was playing about as well as he has in his career before he suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday.
That’s obviously a major blow for the team, and for head coach Kevin O’Connell, whose offense was a perfect structure for Cousins. On Tuesday, the Vikings traded a sixth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for quarterback Josh Dobbs and a seventh-round pick that could become a conditional sixth-round pick.
A 2017 fourth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Tennessee, Dobbs is now on his seventh NFL team, He was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Cardinals just before the 2023 season, and with Kyler Murray’s injury situation, he became Arizona’s starting quarterback pretty quickly.
This season, Dobbs has completed 167 of 266 passes for 1,569 yards, eight touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 81.2. He’s completed 11 of 30 passes of 20 or more air yards for 328 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and passer rating of 100.4.
That’s great, and it shows up on tape. On this 33-yard pass to receiver Michael Wilson against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4, Dobbs did a great job of complementing Wilson’s vertical double move with a great throw.
Where things get interesting for Dobbs is in the intermediate level of a defense — all five lf his interceptions this season have come on throws of 10-19 air yards. If the Vikings are looking for a “conservator” quarterback, they seem to be getting more of a potential big-play machine both with his arm and as a runner. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as they say, but O’Connell and his staff will have to rein a few things in. This interception against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 was especially egregious — and one of two picks he threw in the game.
The Vikings probably scored in a big way here, getting a quarterback for a low-ball deal who should be able to help keep them postseason-relevant. It’s just important to know what Dobbs is at this point in his career, and what he isn’t.