I say no, he won't be able to do so. While his suffering any number of smaller injuries, or one catastrophic one, is impossible to predict, I do think that it's likely - maybe very likely - that he'll either be forced to play at some diminished capacity, or will miss time altogether in the coming season. I believe this for four primary reasons: 1. Defenses will make a concerted effort to hit him, hard and often Given the night-and-day production of the offense when he came in last season, I think that defenses - particularly the very good ones, some of which he has yet to face - will not just spy him, but will key on him. Meaning, they will see his being impactful enough as to cause them to make a concerted effort to take shots at him, and as frequently as hard as possible, to slow or sit him down. 2. His body type and style of play put him at heightened risk Dobbs has undoubtedly made great strides in his two years in the strength and conditioning program. It's obvious at even a casual glance. But, he's improved to what - from a string bean, to a slightly meatier string bean? He's still a tall, skinny wisp of a player, even by the standards of an average QB, and not to mention what he looks like when comparing his body type to that of a Jamis Winston or Cam Newton. And neither his upright running style nor his gangly long strides do anything to assuage the concerns of his being injured. 3. He (we?) may be overestimating the success that he has thus far had. He has played against and survived Bama...but only for a half. And while he managed to stay healthy last season, it bears reminding that it was against the lighter end of our schedule, without his having to endure either the cumulative "wear-and-tear" effects of an entire season, or the better teams and defenses. Kentucky, Vandy and Iowa are fine, but Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma are different animals, altogether, especially when played in quick succession. 4. The offensive line Has there been a single unit in recent memory who performed consistently - catastrophically, even - worse than our o-line last season? I'm not saying that there may not be any number of completely valid reasons for it, but at the same time - who cares why it's atrocious, really? And what, exactly, has happened that inspires us to believe that this has been substantially fixed for next season...or that it will even be adequate? Hope? Prayer? Hopeful prayer? Let's just assume that they've improved (how could they not?) this off-season. And let's go all-out and assume that they've gotten twice as good - a miraculous amount. Well, then it begs the question of "How much have we improved, relative to our level of competition? If most SEC defensive fronts are an 8, and we were a 3....we're now a 6, which is both much improved and yet still significantly less capable than the teams we'll play. This is the same group who we now naturally and automatically assume will keep Dobbs upright and healthy? Am I the only one who recalls defenders going completely unblocked, consistently, and throughout all of last season? Mizzou? Georgia? Hell, UTC had some free-running DL's a few times. I don't want to be Debbie-downer, but I think that we'll largely go as far as Dobbs will take us next season. And that may not be a good thing, if he can't stay healthy.
I don't recall him taking too many big shots, but I don't think many running QBs make it all the way through without at least being banged up, even if they don't miss many snaps. Hopefully they won't need to lean on him running 20 times weekly.
I remember seeing reports from Spring practices where DeBord was absolutely shredding Dobbs for being too physical in his running and giving him direct tips/orders to get out of bounds. Those extra 2-3 yards don't matter once you have the 1st Down. And it's hard to judge Dobbs' progression as, by the bowl game, Croom/North/Smith were all injured and out. Howard and Pearson were the only early season WRs still around and Pearson was in/out for many of Dobbs' games when he took over.
He's being coached to get down or get out of bounds. Biggest concern I have of the OP reasons is easily the line.
Yeah the type of qbs that have remained healthy in that type of scheme are big qbs like Newton or tebow. Even mariotta, who isn't small, was constantly dinged up and definitely played poorly when he was injured.
I think it boils down to this. 1. The OL will be better. How much is the question. 2. Can Hurd and Kamara stay healthy? That impacts how much Dobbs needs to run. If UT is less one or the other it puts a lot more pressure on Dobbs. 3. Can Dobbs be efficient enough throwing the football that it cuts down his run attempts even more. The perfect situation is Dobbs running as a 3rd option or the occasional keep them honest play. Last year he was the 2nd and sometimes the 1st. IF UT stays healthy and the OL has made a good step (no reason they shouldn't) this should be a solid offense.
He got the hell knocked out of him against Bama early on then started getting down or out of bounds. Other than that one big shot, which resulted in a fumble that Alabama recovered, he's done a really good job avoiding the big collisions.
Dobbs should be getting a designed 8 to 10 carries a game. They've stressed to get the first and get down when he does run. He was hurt in the 2013 Vandy game and we all saw how he played. The best thing for his health is Hurd, Kamara and Abernathy IV getting yards where he doesn't have to. If the run game can get going, the majority of his pass attempts are going to come off of play action, which makes the defense hesitate just a little bit.
My inner orange-colored fan is currently believing this is all Bajakian's fault. I know..............
I find having a mobile QB to be equally problematic for the possessing coaches as they are for an opposing coach. Do you let them loose and do what comes naturally? This will result in injuries, no doubt. Negative against the coach(es). Do you try to control them and change their play style? This could result in the QB second-guessing themselves. Negative against the coach(es). I think most try to formulate an offense around the skills of the QB (which Bajakian failed to do) and let them loose. Try to caution against taking hits but if Dobbs thinks he sees an opening for ~15-20y he can safely get but he's already had 10-12 carries on the day... this is where problems can fester. Just my $.02
Have you seen a picture of him? I don't care what his combine numbers say, he doesn't fit our offense.
He looked really, really good in the spring game. He's a lot more athletic than I thought he would be and he's got the best arm and mechanics of any QB on the roster right now. I wouldn't be nervous if Tennessee had to play him during the season.
