The Josh Dobbs Trade Got a Little Sweeter for the Vikings
Josh Frey
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Following Kirk Cousins’ season-ending Achilles injury, the Vikings were left scrambling a bit at the quarterback position.
As a result, they decided to swing a trade and bring in Josh Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals at the deadline, and almost immediately, the journeyman QB was thrown into the offense to lead the team. This week, that trade got a little sweeter for the Vikings as they officially will retain the conditional seventh-round pick that was sent to them from Arizona.
The Josh Dobbs Trade Gets a Little Sweeter
The conditions for the pick were revealed this week (tip of the cap to Cards Wire), and as it turns out, Dobbs needed to play at least 55% of the offensive snaps over the final eight games of the season for that pick to revert back to the Cardinals. Instead, Dobbs fell just short of that number, appearing in a total of 319 of the 648 possible snaps, or 49.6%.
Five days after being traded to the Vikings, Dobbs came into Minnesota’s Week 9 game against the Atlanta Falcons after rookie Jaren Hall suffered a concussion in the first quarter. Dobbs finished his day by completing 20 of his 30 passes for a relatively modest 158 yards and a pair of TD passes. However, the work he did with his legs was electrifying all afternoon. He totaled 7 carries for 66 yards and an 18-yard TD scramble in the third quarter while hitting Trishton Jackson for a two-point conversion following the touchdown.
Dobbs would start four games for the Vikings after that performance, and he totaled 895 passing yards with five TDs and five interceptions. Meanwhile, he put together 163 rushing yards and three rushing TDs as well.
However, the offense began to bottom out down the stretch of the season with Dobbs under center. They mustered just 20 points in Week 11 against the Denver Broncos, 10 points against the Chicago Bears, and zero points with Dobbs against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Then, Nick Mullens took over the reins in the fourth quarter against the Raiders, and he led Minnesota to a 3-0 victory. Hall and Mullens would each get starts over the final four games of the season while the “Dobbs Mania” era ended on a bit of a somber note.
Still, this trade should be chalked up as a net positive for the Vikings. They got a few exciting games out of the quarterback and still managed to get a draft pick back to boot while only giving up a sixth-rounder in order to acquire him.
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the Vikings retain Dobbs this offseason, either. Particularly if they move on from Kirk Cousins and draft a mobile QB such as Jayden Daniels or J.J. McCarthy, it would make sense for the backup/bridge starter to hold a similar elusive skillset.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.