From Rocky Top to Steel City: Dobbs 'thankful' he's headed to Pittsburgh
Since an impressive performance at the Senior Bowl, Josh Dobbs has been compared to Dak Prescott. Like the outstanding Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback, Dobbs is a big ex-SEC gunslinger with a unique skill-set and duel-threat ability.
On Saturday, Tennessee’s two-year full time starter was selected No. 135 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Day 3 of the NFL Draft — the exact same spot in the fourth round where Prescott was drafted just one year ago.
“God definitely works in mysterious ways,” Dobbs said. “It was really awesome to watch Dak last year and see him take advantage of that opportunity. I definitely have taken a lot of notes from his book. You just have to go in and prepare and be ready. When you’re opportunity comes, an organization is counting on you. So you have to be ready to pickup whoever was in front of you left off. But God definitely works in mysterious ways, we’ll see what else he has in store for me.”
Dobbs was the seventh quarterback to come off the board over the last three days of the 2017 NFL Draft. After generating some potential late-first, early-second round buzz over the last week, he admitted waiting two whole days to see his name called “definitely tested my patience,” but ultimately, Tennessee’s record-setting quarterback is quite happy where he ended up.
At home in Alpharetta, Ga., among family and friends, Dobbs perked up Saturday when he saw it was the Steelers’ turn to pick. Then he got a phone call with a 412 area code and he knew. Dobbs had spent a lot of pre-draft time with Steelers brass, as the organization sent a large contingent of team personnel to Tennessee’s Pro Day, including head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert. Following an impressive workout, Dobbs actually flew up to Pittsburgh with his family that next Monday and met with the Steelers, including owner Dan Rooney, who passed away earlier this month.
“We definitely had a lot of conversations throughout the process,” Dobbs said. “When I saw Pittsburgh on the board, I was definitely looking forward to that pick. I’m very thankful it all worked out.”
Dobbs was Vols’ sixth selection in the 2017 draft, and he’ll have the opportunity to continue his playing career alongside former teammate and co-captain Cam Sutton, who was taken by the Steelers in the third round on Saturday. Since the 4th grade, the two were rivals in Peach State pee-wee football and quickly struck up a close friendship at Tennessee. Dobbs even lucked out into rooming with Sutton during the Senior Bowl after his initial flight to Mobile was delayed. He got into his room at 2 a.m. and quietly tried not to wake-up his unknown roommate when he saw a phone go off flashing "Cam Sutton's phone."
Then he smiled and went to bed.
“I’m excited to be up there with Cam. Have a familiar face. We go from freshmen roommates, to Senior Bowl roommates to now teammates,” he said.
“It was really cool to (room with Sutton in Mobile). In a stressful environment to have a familiar face where you just go back to the room and hang out with each other’s company. Now, he was one of the first few people who called me and we were just celebrating on the phone. It’ll be excited to meet him up there.”
Before Tennessee’s 2016 season, most draft analysts didn’t offer glowing endorsements of Dobbs’ chances to be an NFL quarterback. But after the senior delivered a strong final season — leading the SEC in overall touchdowns (40) and passing efficiency – Dobbs’ stock was reevaluated. Then, Dobbs had a great Senior Bowl showing and an outstanding Pro Day workout, further raising his draft stock. Now, he has a chance to backup and be groomed by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who recently turned 35 years old and has battled numerous injuries throughout his career.
“It’s definitely a great opportunity to learn from a future Hall of Fame quarterback. It’s a tremendous opportunity. My goal is to go in and learn, compete and be the best Josh Dobbs I can be,” he explained.
“I want to be ready to play whenever my number is called. I’m going to continue to prepare as if I’m the starter and be ready when my time comes.”
Dobbs will also have a chance to work with a stacked skill-position group in Pittsburgh, including tailback Le’Veon Bell and wideout Antonio Brown — a former player under coach Butch Jones at Central Michigan and someone Jones has consistently touted since his time at Tennessee.
Dobbs was asked about how often Brown’s name had been brought up in Tennessee’s facilities over his career, and the quarterback chuckled and said, “More times than there are days in those four years.”