When Teddy Bridgewater unexpectedly announced his retirement in the middle of the training camp, the Detroit Lions quickly pivoted and signed Joshua Dobbs. Because Dobbs is an established veteran with starting experience and has worked with offensive coordinator Drew Petzing on two separate occasions, many assumed that Dobbs would lock down the QB2 spot for the season.
However, that hasn't been the case so far. The 31-year-old signal-caller seems to be an afterthought for the Lions in training camp.
Joshua Dobbs may find himself the odd man out in the Lions' QB2 battle
When Dobbs only played for a quarter in preseason Week 1, many assumed that was because he wasn't fully ready and wasn't familiar with the playbook. In practices since, things haven't gone much better for the veteran QB.
Austin Stanley and Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports noted that in Wednesday's practice, undrafted QB Luke Altmyer took almost all the snaps at the QB2 spot. They said that Dobbs came in for a drive during 7-on-7s, threw a few passes, and that was it. They added, "There was nothing about those passes that made you go, 'Oh, okay, this guy’s going to make the team.'"
This has been confirmed by other Lions reporters and training camp watchers. Dobbs has simply not gotten much of a chance to showcase what he can do so far. He seems to be firmly behind Altmyer in the pecking order.
One could argue that Dobbs is a known commodity and the Lions want to get a look at Altmyer. The problem is that Dobbs still needs to build chemistry with his teammates and learn the playbook. Altmyer getting the majority of the snaps would make sense. Getting almost all of the snaps, however, is surprising.
Jeremy Reisman of The Pride of Detroit said that he would have Altmyer as the second QB on his 53-man roster prediction right now, before adding that he would love some clarity from Dan Campbell on why Dobbs is playing so little in practice.
Brooke Kirchhofer of the Lions' official social media account also noted how much more confident Altmyer has looked leading the second unit.
There is still time for Dobbs to flip the script. The Lions have two more preseason games and ten days before they have to finalize the 53-man roster. If Dobbs shows signs of life, he could still earn his spot as the QB2 before the season.
For now, however, Dobbs is trending down. Unless we hear an explanation from the team about why Dobbs is getting so few opportunities, it's difficult to see him making the final cut.
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