Author Archives: Brad Shepard

Tennessee Focusing on the Future of its Quarterbacks Along with Present

Much of the talk around spring practice has centered on Tennessee’s quarterbacks battle as Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano vie to replace Joshua Dobbs as the Volunteers’ signal-caller of the future.

But just as intriguing of a storyline as camp comes to a close is who the Vols will tab as the quarterback in their 2018 recruiting class.

After swinging and missing on Hunter Johnson and other high-profile targets a season ago, UT settled on Will McBride, who chose the Vols following a late offer after he was all set to enroll mid-term with Memphis.

There hasn’t been that much talk about McBride this spring, as expected, because he’s probably swimming in learning all the vernacular and nuances that come from studying playbooks and making calls for a college team. No matter how good you are in high school, that learning curve is sharp for the vast majority of players. McBride may wind up being a star, but his thin offer sheet and limited experience make that a huge question mark.

So, with UT coach Butch Jones wanting to take a quarterback each year and considering there was a gamble taken at recruiting the position in the ’17 class, that makes this year’s quarterback prospect an important undertaking. With the Orange & White Game set to commence tomorrow, Tennessee is expected to host a few of its targets at the position.

With new quarterbacks coach Mike Canales now calling the shots, the “big board” at the position has changed. Would UT love to get back in on former top targets and Georgia prospects Emory Jones (Ohio State commit) and Justin Fields (Penn State commit) and become major players for those two? Most likely. They’ve got elite ceilings as dual-threat quarterbacks with big arms and fast feet. But as far as uncommitted prospects go, this week has been big for Tennessee’s future recruiting the offensive leader.

After hosting 4-star California signal-caller Brevin White earlier this week—a visit that put the Vols “high on the list” for the pledge of the player, according to 247Sports’ Ryan Callahan—UT will host several other prospects at the position this weekend.

Perhaps the most lauded of the bunch is 4-star California Bears commitment Adrian Martinez, who may just be at the top of UT’s current board that includes uncommitted players. Martinez is blessed with great arm strength, and he isn’t a statue in the pocket, either. He has seemed to be feeling the Vols since they extended an offer, and though other teams such as Alabama have swooped in with offers since then, Martinez is making the cross-country trip from Cali to visit Knoxville this weekend. Most importantly for UT, he isn’t going anywhere else. That means he’s coming to SEC Country and only taking in the Neyland Stadium atmosphere.

Considering all the turnover the Bears coaching staff has experienced over the past year, that can’t be a bad development for UT.

Martinez isn’t the only gunslinger coming to Knoxville from the West, either. Fresh off getting an offer from the Georgia Bulldogs, 3-star quarterback Cammon Cooper (of Utah) is also going to be in Knoxville. He’s more of a traditional dropback passer, but that may not be such a unique development. Ever since Larry Scott took over as offensive coordinator and Canales joined the fray as UT’s quarterbacks coach, the Vols seem more interested in pro-style passers than they were with the previous regime.

The Vols reportedly practiced more under center this spring after running out of the shotgun the vast majority of the time during Dobbs’ tenure under former offensive coordinator Mike DeBord. Does that signify a regime change? Not necessarily, especially if redshirt freshman Guarantano wins the job. But it also could prove that UT is going to be more diverse from a schematic standpoint under Scott, especially in short-yardage situations.

Still, if you want a dual-threat quarterback prospect to whet your appetite, Tennessee hosted several of them this spring, and the Vols are getting another visit this weekend from Michael Penix of Tampa Bay (Florida) Tech, who fits that mold. The 6’2″, 182-pounder is a player who 247Sports’ Crystal Ball believes will wind up in Knoxville. With Tennessee potentially taking two quarterbacks in this year’s class, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he could pull the trigger for the Vols this weekend if he indeed is a take. He likes UT that much.

So, there hasn’t been that much movement on the recruiting front just yet, and everybody wants a quarterback around which to build your class. With so many prospects coming this weekend and with players at the position traditionally deciding to choose their schools early, could this be the weekend the Vols land a signal-caller for the 2018 class?

That remains to be seen. But it’s definitely something else to watch along with tomorrow’s Orange & White spring finale.

 

Joshua Dobbs’ Stock Taking Off Prior to Next Week’s Draft

Former Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs has never halfway done anything.

From the moment he decided to play football at a young age, he was all-in. He was good enough at baseball to play collegiately. If there was a club to be in during high school, Dobbs was a member. Volunteer work? How about every week. Impacting lives? Countless people in countless ways, including kids that are afflicted by life-altering issues.

He is outspoken about an alopecia condition that affects him and many others, and he became best buds with a Knoxville-area kid battling cancer. Oh, and maybe you’ve heard of his scholastic achievements, majoring in aerospace engineering at Tennessee while absorbing the phonebook-sized playbook that comes with every SEC starting signal-caller gig.

So, why should you be surprised Dobbs is suddenly becoming one of the surging prospects leading up to next week’s draft? It’s just Dobbs going out and seizing the opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing on the next level.

Doubters gonna doubt. Dobbs gonna shed ’em like would-be tacklers. Rinse, repeat. Same thing that happened during his entire Tennessee career.

Many want to talk about him being the next Dak Prescott. I’ve uttered that he has that ability myself, and even Jon Gruden compared the two in the latest episode of Gruden’s QB Camp, according to WATE reporter Emily Proud: “I saw something special in Dak Prescott last year and, I’m not saying I’m always right, but I see it in [Josh Dobbs] too,” Proud tweeted, quoting Gruden.

That’s high praise for Dobbs, comparing him to a player who took the NFL by storm in 2016, usurping All-Pro Tony Romo following an injury and causing Dallas to move away from the Romo era. As a matter of fact, it may be too high. Why can’t Dobbs just be Dobbs? He’s improved every year, and with some actual coaching at the position, he can certainly play on the next level. At what level? Let him prove that.

We always get caught up in comparing Amateur Player X to Professional Player Y, just like we compare High School Player X to College Player Y. It’s unhealthy, and it’s irrational. Dobbs can pave his own way, as he’s proven the past several months.

After his Tennessee career dwindled, many pro scouts were talking about Dobbs switching positions on the next level after latching onto a team with a free-agent contract because he almost certainly wouldn’t be drafted. Then, he crept into a few [worthless] mock drafts as a late-round pick as his name began to float out there as a potential sleeper.

After a quality Senior Bowl outing where he completed 12-of-15 passes for 104 yards and an interception, he saw his name move into the fifth round of some mocks. Dobbs then looked great at the NFL Combine and at UT’s Pro Day, he had what Tennessee director of player personnel Bob Welton, a former NFL scout, told Mike Griffith was the best workout for NFL scouts he’s ever seen.

Is that hyperbole? Maybe. Welton is a close friend of Butch Jones, after all. But maybe it wasn’t too far off.

Like everything else in his life, Dobbs’ pro day was self-made, and, like Welton, many were impressed.

“Joshua Dobbs was his own quarterback guru, scripting his own plays for the workout portion of the pro day,” wrote senior analyst Gil Brandt at NFL.com. “He started with four go routes and dropped each into the bucket. He ended with four go-routes and threw perfect passes about 50 yards down the field.”

Much like was the case while in Knoxville, Dobbs was his own quarterbacks coach that day.

So, how much will it all ultimately pay off? That’s the ultimate question here, isn’t it? Well, the answer is as tough to tackle as Dobbs in the open field. CBS Sports has him projected in the sixth round. ESPN.com noted draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. believes the 6’3″, 216-pound dual-threat signal-caller could be taken as high as the second or third round. Teams such as the Browns and Texans—two teams desperate for quarterbacks—visited with Dobbs in the past week. Maybe they’re seeing what I see:

He’s worth the gamble, folks.

We always get caught up in measurables and workouts, and all of those are incredibly important. But Dobbs has experienced high marks in both areas. Look at his college body of work. There was inconsistency, but there is also constant improvement despite a lack of singular coaching focus on his position. He finished his UT career leading the SEC in total offensive yards per game, passing efficiency, touchdown passes and non-kicking points accounted for in 2016, and he added 713 yards and nine touchdowns rushing. That’s why he was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year.

If you want a player with a high upside as an athlete, he’s one of the three potential steals alongside Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. If he develops, you’ve got the intelligent, articulate, well-rounded poster boy for your franchise, somebody who not only won’t embarrass you off the field but also make you proud he’s yours. For a Cleveland franchise that drafted Johnny Manziel, he’d be the antithesis.

He’s the kind of player who can help you in a lot of ways, including on the sideline, on the practice field and in the community. And that’s only if he doesn’t star on Sundays, which certainly isn’t out of the question.

Dobbs has some question marks, but, really, how much bigger are they than any other gamble in the draft once you get past the mid-second round?

Sure, he’s raw—frustratingly so for UT fans who watched him lead the Vols through parts of the past four seasons. But that’s only because head coach Butch Jones stubbornly failed to hire a quarterbacks coach until a player who desperately needed one exhausted eligibility. What did Dobbs do? He improved each season under center despite having a grizzly, old offensive line coach tutoring him at the position.

Was his footwork great? Is his arm elite? Is his release point consistent? Did he always make the best decisions? No, but how many games did Dobbs win just being Dobbs? How many touchdowns did he score at pivotal times? How many players missed the magician in the open field when he took off with the rush?

Despite being a polarizing quarterback during much of his Tennessee career, Dobbs at times single-handedly led the offense to huge numbers. He was a transcendent athlete who’ll be desperately missed in Knoxville, whether you believe that now or not. The Vols haven’t had somebody who could take over games at the position like him since Peyton Manning, and they’ve not had a runner as effective as him at the position since Condredge Holloway.

That’s two legends, and it’s two players Dobbs doesn’t need to be compared to. But to be spoken in the same sentence as either of those two players is high praise. In case you’re keeping track at home, one of those was an NFL star; the other didn’t make it despite putting up some nice numbers in the Canadian Football League. One was a prototypical dropback passer, and the other was more of a run-first guy. Where does Dobbs fall? Somewhere in the middle of the two, much like his pro potential.

Many people will write many words about Dobbs over the course of his career, no matter how long or short it is. His performances in all the practice-atmosphere settings have warranted articles in previous weeks, and now everybody has an opinion on his stock, his ceiling and his pro ability. The team that drafts him will watch as beat writers file plenty of stories rehashing the same things said here through mini-camp and leading up to the season, maybe onward after that.

Some will talk about how Dobbs will be a star. Many others will talk about why he’ll be a flop.

You’ll get no prediction either way here. All I’m going to say is the kid has shown he deserves a chance, just by his college body of work, the way he conducts himself off the field and the brilliant things he does on it. I’ve said it for years, and other former naysayers are seeing it now and writing as much. He’s proven he can wow the crowd in big opportunities, and it couldn’t happen to a better kid, somebody who works just as hard to be good off the field as on it; maybe more so.

He’s going to sign a contract and make some big bucks. He’s going to give his dream a swing, and if it doesn’t work out, you know what? He’s proven he’ll undoubtedly go pro [and be successful] in something other than sports.

He’s not the next superstar rookie like Dak Prescott. He won’t be the next big-name bust like Robert Griffin III.

He’s Joshua Dobbs. And that’s been good enough so far. Who’s gonna bet against the future?