Pro Football Focus has Josh Dobbs as the HIGHEST RATED QB the last 2 preseason games...

Once again, football is a team sport. Those 6 rings were won by the Patriots organization not just one player. Tom Brady has benefited from having a great head coach and organization that has done well without him. Don't forget that in 2008 the Patriots went 11-5 without Brady. And in 2016 when Brady was suspended for the first 4 games they went 3-1 without him.

There are many talent evaluators who would take a guy like Aaron Rodgers (who has only 1 ring) over Tom Brady because Aaron Rodgers makes WOW throws that nobody else can do. I think too many fans confuse TEAM SUCCESS with INDIVIDUAL TALENT. They don't always correlate. The QB with the most wins isn't always the one who is the best.

 

Do you pay for this service?

 

PFF operates like NFL coaches do. They don't rate players based on stats. They rate players based on WATCHING TAPE.

For example, those stats don't take into account the fact Dobbs threw 2 passes that should have been touchdowns that weren't counted because of mistakes by others. In the first preseason game against the Buccaneers, Dobbs threw a perfect pass in the corner of the endzone to James Washington that should have been a TD if Washington had kept his feet inbounds. In the second preseason game against the Chiefs, Dobbs threw a perfect back shoulder pass that was caught for a TD but was later overturned due to the phantom offensive pass interference call. And then in the game this week against the Titans, Dobbs threw a INT that was deflected by one of his own teammates into the air and caught by the defender.

The stats you posted don't show all of this context. That's why the grades from PFF don't correlate to the simple box score numbers you posted.

 

You guys seem to be oblivious to the concept that football is a team sport. Josh Dobbs can't throw the ball and catch it as well. Stats like QB rating don't take into account drops and deflected passes. For example, Dobbs threw a pick the last game that wasn't his fault. It was deflected by one of his teammates into the air and caught by the defender. PFF probably didn't put that INT on Dobbs which is why his rating for the game was good. However, a simple stat like QB rating doesn't take into account context like that and it ends up hurting Dobbs box score metrics.

This the reason coaches WATCH TAPE when evaluating players rather than just looking at the stat sheet.

 

No. I watch their YouTube channel and follow their free content on Twitter.

 

These aren't statistics per se.

PFF focus evaluates the game tape. They hire former coaches and have them evaluate the tape the way they did when they were coaching. Then they give players a numeric score based on how they are evaluated on tape.

Its more like a coach's eye test score than traditional box score stats that we are used to.

 

They evaluate the coaches tape rather than the broadcast footage. So they're looking at all 22 players. And they also hire former NFL coaches. The don't just give you credit for what happened on the play. But also look at what should have happened.

This is why their grades don't always correlate to the box score stats. For example, if a QB throws a good pass to a receiver but it bounces off the receiver's hands and is intercepted, Pro Football Focus will not punish the QB for that play. They will give the QB a good score for that pass. The normal box score doesn't take context like that into account and will simply punish the QB for the interception.

 

I think I know why they're 'former' coaches.

 

I'm convinced that this guy is really Kevin Colbert trying to inflate Dobbs trade value to the Colts. He needs to make up for that horrendous AB trade.

 

Fair enough. I don't think PFF is perfect. I've disagreed with their ratings before. They are definitely not infallible.

I posted their content this time because their grades go against the consensus opinion of most of the media and Steelers fans which is that Mason Rudolph is running away with the competition for the backup job.

 

Keep saying this but it serves no use. It just makes your arguments look foolish. Preseason is for evaluating individual talent. Dobbs doesn’t see the field well, wants to run too soon, doesn’t check down for crap and hasn’t developed to where he should be by now. He’s not a good back up #2. Maybe #3 only because he knows the system.

 

In one of the SteelersDepot articles, I think this summarizes what PFF seems to be missing about Dobbs:

"Even though he has shown through every game that he is capable of playing plays with both his arm down the field and with his legs, his repeated misfires on relatively routine throws in the short and intermediate areas is a big play-to-play concern."

 

Your team theory doesn't hold water and only backs up your QB numbers. Since Dobbs isn't penalized by PFF because of drops, tipped balls, or other factors done by his teammates the reverse must hold true as well. Johnny Holton and Dionte Spencer should be 2 of the highest rated wide receivers since it's a team game and they can't throw catchable balls to themselves, so as long as the tape these former coaches are watching shows crisp routes, good techniques and solid understanding of the play it doesn't matter that they drop a pass that hits them in the hands or that they aren't targeted at all, that's their teammates fault

 

The former NFL coaches that work for Pro Football Focus seem to disagree with you.

You seem to think I'm the one that created these numbers that rate Josh Dobbs highly. They're from Pro Football Focus (a service that is featured on Sunday Night Football). They're the one that are saying Josh Dobbs has performed better than Mason Rudolph the last 2 games. I'm simply telling you why their numbers say what they do.

Be mad at them for the work product. Not me for simply reporting.

 

I'm joking around, but I'm not a stats guy. Stats are for baseball, and I hate baseball (since 1994 strike).

 

Dobbs has led zero TD drives in preseason, the only wow throws Dobbs has made has been his ints .

 

I guess Jeff George must have had a grade of 100 every game because no one ever threw a prettier pass than him. He had a career record of 46 wins and 78 losses but hey it's a team game so that doesn't matter. His teammates must have really sucked in the 78 games he lost.

 

I think is also says that NOD won SBXXX

 

I don't think they're missing that part of his game. They're just not letting a mistake here and there override all the other great plays he's making.

Dobbs' detractors seem to just focus on his mistakes while ignoring all his great plays. No one is ignoring his flaws. He needs to become more consistent as a passer. However, you can't teach what he's got. That play he made against the Titans last Sunday where he evaded pressure from right up the middle (the sort of pressure that gets almost every other QB sacked), then rolled to his left as a right-handed QB, and then threw a perfect pass on a rope down the field to his receiver was a thing of beauty. Only a handful of starting QBs in the entire NFL can make that play. Guys like Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers. When the coaches at PFF see a play like that on tape, they are gonna give that QB a high grade because he's making plays out there that not many people can do.

 

Yeah he threw 2 beautiful spirals to Larry Brown.

 

He should have 2 TD passes. One of them against Tampa Bay didn't count because James Washington didn't keep his feet inbounds for a surefire TD. And then against the Chiefs Dobbs threw a perfect back shoulder TD pass that was called back because of a phantom offensive pass interference call.

I'm guessing PFF is not counting those plays against Dobbs like you are. Dobbs may not have scored a TD according to the stat sheet but he has moved the ball well all preseason and put his team in position to score. He's made a couple of mistakes in the redzone like that INT against Kansas City. But he's also had his teammates make mistakes that have cost him TDs.

This is why coaches watch tape when evaluating players rather than just looking at the stat sheet.

 

Team game where points matter not what could have been.

 

You do realize that you are marginalizing MR's wow plays and propping up Dobbs by saying don't look at the negative look at the shiny 30 yard run

 

And thus far, the team has played better sans Dobbs.

 

I'm simply trying to explain to you why PFF has Dobbs rated higher than Rudolph.

If you want my opinion on Rudolph, I don't find much to be impressed with him. He's a guy who has benefited thus far from plays being made by the players around him. His longest play thus far in the preseason was a short 5 yard drag route that he threw to Holton that the receiver then turned into a 50 yard gain by running through the defense. Most of his passes have been short throws of less than 10 yards. He's a dink and dunk passer with limited arm strength to push the ball downfield. And that's without even getting into the fact he's not the run threat Dobbs is as a runner.

Physically Dobbs is more talented. He's got the bigger arm and is far more dangerous as a runner. Dobbs only problem is he's got a Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde element to his game. If he finds a way to become more consistent, then he can be a Deshaun Watson level starting QB in the NFL one day. Mason Rudolph does not have the physical talent to be an above average starting QB in the NFL. He's a solid backup at best with spot starter potential.