Over the weekend we saw a first for the University of Tennessee. Or at least a first in a long time, a Volunteer football player was not selected in any round of last weekend’s NFL Draft, putting a halt to a 51 year streak of having at least one player drafted from the school.
This is the mess that head coach Butch Jones inherited after the university fired Derek Dooley, ending the tenure of the worst coach in school history. Since then Jones has been a relative Godsend to the Big Orange faithful and with good reason. This coming season, with a playmaking quarterback running the offense, Tennessee’s days at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference standings should be over.
It’s hard to quantify the excitement that junior quarterback Joshua Dobbs has created since Jones handed the reigns of the offense over to him last season. But if you had watched his performance in the Tennessee Orange and White game two weeks ago, you’d be excited too.
“His (Dobb’s) confidence was evidenced in the quarterback challenge,” Jones said in his postgame media session. “Those aren’t just for entertainment, those are evaluation tools. Doing that challenge in front of 63,000 people and staying calm and collected. That’s the confidence he has and the confidence he has in the players around them.”
Dobbs played in six games last season, finishing with a 63.3 completion percentage for 1,206 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions. He added 104 carries for 469 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Dobbs was a difference-maker and dragged a short-handed Tennessee team all the way to the Gator Bowl where they dominated Iowa, winning 45-28.
“I’m very excited moving forward, both on offense and defense,” Dobbs said last week. “We took a lot of steps forward this spring. We installed a lot of good things and are playing with a lot more tempo and control of the offense and defense. You can just see it. Everyone’s playing with a lot more confidence. The guys are definitely excited heading into the summer and heading into the season.”
Dobbs split time in the spring game with two of Tennessee’s other quarterbacks, Quenten Dormady and Juan Jennings. Dormady had a pretty good day himself, but the spotlight was all on Dobbs and he delivered, finishing 5-for-8 passing for a touchdown, displaying the elusiveness, arm strength and downfield vision that Tennessee hasn’t had at the quarterback position since Tee Martin ran the offense from 1999-2000.
“The mark of a great player is that they elevate players around them,” Jones said. “They bring them along. Josh is starting to do that. Is he a finished product? Absolutely not. Does he still needs consistency? Yes. But I like where he’s going.”
Dobbs will have the weapons to be successful this season, even if suspended wide receiver Von Pearson isn’t able to return to the team. Pearson was suspended in April after a sexual assault allegation.
Sophomore Josh Malone caught a 65-yard touchdown pass in the spring game, hauling the ball in no more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage and turning on the jets, beating the defense to the end zone.
Ethan Wolfe is the latest soft-handed tight end in the Tennessee program, following in the footsteps of Mychal Rivera, now with the Oakland Raiders, and Jason Witten, star tight end of the Dallas Cowboys. In the Orange and White game, Wolfe saw Dobbs scrambling with his eyes downfield and mirrored him, catching a 15-yard touchdown pass in traffic early in the game.
Pig Howard and Marquez North should both be factors in the passing game and Dobbs will have not one, but two elite running backs to hand the ball off to, with redshirt sophomore Alvin Kamara joining Jalen Hurd in the backfield. Last year, Hurd averaged 4.7 yards per carry, rushing for 938 yards and five touchdowns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GURTdUxGq4E
But success at Tennessee, maybe more than any SEC school begins at the quarterback position and Dobbs wants that on his shoulders.
“Obviously, it feels good to be the starting quarterback moving forward,” Dobbs said. “I’m more worried about how the offense feels. We feel we have a lot of confidence moving forward. We had a very productive spring, all 15 practices. There wasn’t a day that anyone didn’t show up to practice. It was great to see. Everyone cares. Everyone’s excited moving forward. Everyone’s fired up to get better this summer and get ready for fall camp.”
Tennessee opens its season against Bowling Green at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn on Sep. 5.
