The Passtronaut Takes Off
Well Josh Dobbs sure was fun for what, two weeks?
After coming in out of nowhere to salvage the Vikings lost season after Kirk tore his achilles, Dobbs captured our hearts and minds by balling out against the Falcons on roughly a couple days worth of time with the team. It captured our hearts. I made a big post giving him the honorary Next Ryan Fitzpatrick award. He beat the Saints the following week and his legend grew even higher. He lost to the Broncos after that and looked pretty bad…then he lost to the Bears and looked even worse. He got benched during the abysmal 3-0 win against the Raiders. Nick Mullens was named the starter this past weekend. Dobbs rose fast and hard, and crashed just as fast and hard.
It was amazing how quickly we sorta forgot how bad he looked in Arizona. Maybe it was because the Cardinals were supposed to be bad so Dobbs looking bad wasn’t a big deal. But he actually started the season with a bit of hype, same as the Vikings. The Cards lost early games but Dobbs was doing good Dobbs things: running hard and making plays. Not enough to save the team but enough to catch the eyes of the few people watching the Cardinals. Then, he just started to suck. It’s like the more Dobbs learns the playbook the worse he gets. Maybe he’s a bad overthinker. Make him run on instincts and things work out. Make him read a defense and go through progressions and call protections…and you wonder how this guy could be smart enough to work at NASA.
Very few backups are on the level of a guy like Gardner Minshew. Ben Solak, a good football writer for The Ringer who somehow still looks like he’s in middle school, has a good video on the typical cycle of a backup QB that brings up a lot of great points that I’ll probably parrot a bit here. Backups sometimes surprise us. Not always, but sometimes. That surprise tends to come with the caveat that different guys have different skill sets and coaches have to adjust gameplans for what they can do. But the surprise doesn’t last long because teams finally get tape on the guy and then he starts to look like a backup quarterback again. Tommy DeVito took over the Josh Dobbs hype after the Dobbs hype ate shit. DeVito looked awful in his first two appearances (The Jets game honestly barely counts, they didn’t trust him to throw at all), but then he played against the weakest part of the schedule and ripped off 3 wins and now he’s trademarking the name Tommy Cutlets. The hype even managed to make his agent briefly famous. But DeVito never played like anything special. The Commies and Patriots are pathetic and the Packers were overhyped. On top of that, the defense really won those games. This past weekend everything fell back down to earth and the Tommy Cutlets hype is probably going to sleep with the fishes against the Eagles. But hey, Jake Browning! Can’t wait to see harsh reality strike him in a week or two.
I think we all just love a good backup story and like seeing underdogs succeed. Sometimes it works out. Tom Brady was a darling that first magical season. Tony Romo would have been beloved if he wasn’t a Cowboy. People still bring up Kurt Warner bagging groceries every time we talk about him. Nick Foles’ run in 2017 will go down in legend despite Foles being largely ass everywhere else. Jeff Hostettler’s mustache still brings up nostalgic smiles in the older fans at the bar. Kirk Cousins made a good career after fighting for life behind RG3. Jalen Hurts most famous claim to fame before the Eagles was being the guy Saban benched for Tua. Matt Flynn made a billion dollars off of one great game beating up Detroit and he didn’t even start a game for the team who paid him. Ryan Fitzpatrick is now starring in commercials and has a prominent personality space on TNF’s broadcast based on everyone knowing he went to Harvard. Ryan Fitzpatrick never made the playoffs, not once. But his beard kicks ass. We love the underdog.
Solak talks about anonymity after the fall for backups but I don’t know if I fully agree on that. No, none of us really follow backups closely, but they have the same appeal as “that guy” character actors. You may not think about them day to day but when you see him come in you go “Oh THAT’S where he’s at now?” and remember the fun times you had with him last time he showed up on your screen. Mitch Trubisky is a Steeler now? That guy used to kiss titties! He can’t throw left! Remember when he won NVP? Outstanding. It isn’t a glamorous life but it’s a respectful one.
I can’t wait to see what random ass dude has his moment next.
How dare you imply he doesn’t still kiss titties!
I loved Matt Schaub was the backup in Atlanta the last few Vick years. Vick’s inconsistency had led to a portion of the fanbase to bench him and bring in Schaub during the 06 season. the Falcon’s killed that potential by trading him to Houston where he played well but not elite for several years. Of course, that trade was done shortly before the dog fighting news broke. Leaving us with a who’s who of “Oh I remember that guy!” playing for the Falcons in 07. Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich, Chris Redman (who hung on for years as a backup with the Falcons after being an insurance salesman before we snagged him out of desperation)
This ultimately led to Atlanta getting Ryan who is my favorite all time Falcon. Eventually Schaub did return home to ride out his remaining career where it started. So, it worked out in the end I suppose. Especially for Schaub who after retiring 3 years ago still ranks in the top 100 (97) earners in the NFL all time.
Schaub had a lot of potential and would’ve saved the 2007 season (or at least made it a bit better) than what it was. I wonder what would’ve happened if we’d never have let him go in a hypothetical situation. I’m glad it turned out the way it did though, Matt Ryan is my favorite player and was the face of the franchise for a decade and a half.
Calling it now, Mason Rudolph is SOMEHOW gonna limp the Steelers to a 9-7 record and then all off-season there’s gonna be Rudolph/Pickett “who’s gonna be the starter” drama.
Meant to say 9-8
I keep forgetting about the 17th game
Other notable backups I can think of that had a “we want them to succeed” story:
Charlie Whitehurst
Jeff Tuel
Matt McGloin
Taylor Heineke
AJ McCarron
Brock Purdy was Mr Irrelevant and now he’s a darling for MVP.
We just saw Brock Purdy go from feel-good story to actual NFL starter we don’t know how to feel about. It’s still too early for the “he’s Drew Brees” hype, but he’s in about the same tier of QB as Tua, and with a full season’s worth of games on tape I think it’s fair to say he’s here to stay
Carson Wentz 2.0
An elite QB would’ve beaten the Browns or Bengals. He misses down field throws that matter. When defenses can take away the screens and still cover the corners he can’t make the throws.
It’s apparent you have’nt watched Brock Purdy then. He’s making crazy completions.
“But hey, Jake Browning! Can’t wait to see harsh reality strike him in a week or two.”
With all due respect and on the other hand, SHUT UP! Don’t let Browning know he’s playing WELL above the back of his trading card.
Tom Brady ruined it for backup QBs everywhere.
Just realized that Jeff Hostetler looks a little bit like my dad
For every backup success story, there are >15 backups you either forgot about or you have very far back in your mind
Later his charred remains turns up in eBay.
“Ownership of Fort Elite Moneys”
Scum is injured and is backed up by FLACCO. As FLACCO becomes increasingly successful, he starts reverting to being a child. He celebrates with his gummy bears and rebuilds Fort Elite Moneys. Orange Drink included. AWKWARD.
Merry Christmas Dave. Thank you for making us laugh with football comics. We appreciate you.