Why Joshua Dobbs’ golden 2023 season could be over: NFL quarterback power rankings following Week 12

 

 

In his debut year as an NFL starting quarterback, Joshua Dobbs has had an eventful year. But may that be about to change?

Following the Vikings’ 12-10 loss to the Bears on Monday night, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell refused to commit to Dobbs starting when the team returns from its bye week. The main reason is that Dobbs has turned the ball over six times in his last two losses.

He is now tied for fourth in the NFL with 10 interceptions. Only Josh Allen, Sam Howell (both have 13) and Mac Jones (12) have thrown more picks than Dobbs.

In addition to the 10 picks, Dobbs has also lost two fumbles between his stints with the Cardinals and Vikings.

With the 6-6 Vikings clinging to the final playoff spot in an NFC race that got more compelling with a trio of 5-6 teams in the Packers, Rams and Saints, O’Connell clearly understands the urgency in trying to find a quarterback who can protect the football.

Here is a power ranking of all 32 starting quarterbacks based on how they have performed 12 weeks into the season. Their previous ranking is in parenthesis. If a starter was injured or benched within the last week, their replacement will be listed with the previous starter in the parentheses.

Any quarterback coming into the NFL hopes to get an opportunity as a starter. Dobbs has done his best to take advantage of that chance. He’s tied with Matthew Stafford and Lamar Jackson for touchdown passes, and he has one more than Trevor Lawrence.

 

 

But like any quarterback, turning the ball over will cause any coach to question keeping you on the field. It’s why Jimmy Garoppolo got benched in Las Vegas and why Mac Jones’ status in New England has been scrutinized.

Dobbs deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done this season, making as many exciting plays as he has and having an almost storybook-like moment in Minnesota. But reality can be cruel, and that’s why despite the good that Dobbs has shown, the bad could get him sidelined when the Vikings travel to Las Vegas on Dec. 10.

In the first game since the firing of Matt Canada as offensive coordinator, Pickett had one of his best games of the season in a 16-10 win vs. the Bengals in Cincinnati. Pickett was 24 of 33 pass — a season-high 72.7 completion percentage — for 278 yards, also a season high.

He should have had a touchdown had Diontae Johnson not dropped a ball in the end zone. But he continued a stretch of seven consecutive games without an interception, which is why the Steelers continue to stay in a playoff spot despite the No. 28 scoring offense in the NFL (16.5 points per game).

Thompson-Robinson finally got his first NFL touchdown pass on Sunday when he threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Bryant in the third quarter of the Browns’ 29-12 loss in Denver. But it also stands to reason he should be doing better because of the drops.

Pro Football Focus tallied six drops for Browns receivers a week ago vs. the Steelers, and then there were three more vs. the Broncos. David Njoku dropped a potential touchdown pass against Pittsburgh and Amari Cooper had a surprising drop on a two-point try in Denver. If he caught that pass, the game could very well have taken a different direction.

It’s tough for the Browns to see Thompson-Robinson go into the concussion protocol for multiple reasons, including the fact that he made tangible progress in his last two starts. He’s shown enough where you want to see more if he were healthy, especially with just one turnover in his last seven quarters.