Joshua Dobbs

Early years

Dobbs was born and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia, the son of Stephanie and Robert Dobbs. His mother retired from United Parcel Service (UPS) as a district manager in corporate human resources and his father is a senior vice president for Wells Fargo bank. Joshua has alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease causing hair loss, which first developed when he was transitioning from elementary to junior high school.

Dobbs started playing competitive football when he was five years old. He attended Wesleyan School and then Alpharetta High School. As a senior with the Alpharetta football team, he threw for 3,625 yards with 29 touchdowns. Dobbs was a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and a four-star by Scout.com. He originally committed to Arizona State University to play college football, but in February 2013, he changed his commitment to the University of Tennessee.

Dobbs majored in aerospace engineering during his time at the University of Tennessee. The university presented him with the 2017 Torchbearer Award, the highest honor for an undergraduate student, which recognizes accomplishments in the community and academics.

2013 season

As a true freshman in 2013, Dobbs played in five games with four starts after starter Justin Worley was injured in a 45–10 loss against Alabama at Bryant–Denny Stadium. Dobbs came into the game in relief of Worley and completed 5-of-12 passes for 75 yards. He started his first career game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field. He completed 26-of-42 passes for 240 yards with two interceptions in the 31–3 loss. After a 55–23 loss to Auburn Tigers and a 14–10 loss to Vanderbilt Commodores, Dobbs would put together a solid performance against the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium. In the 27–14 victory, Dobbs threw his first two career touchdown passes and had a 40-yard rushing touchdown. Overall, he completed 72-of-121 passes for 695 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions and also rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown in his true freshman season.

2014 season

Dobbs competed with Worley, who was a senior, and Nathan Peterman, a sophomore, to be Tennessee's starter for the 2014 season. Worley would win the competition, but Dobbs would take over as the starter in November after Worley was injured against in a 34–3 loss to Ole Miss at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium. However, Dobbs was not pushed into action immediately after the injury. In the following week against #4 Alabama Crimson Tide, Peterman was named the starter, but he was relived by Dobbs. Dobbs performed admirably in the 34–20 defeat by recording 192 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns against the Crimson Tide. Against South Carolina, Dobbs had a breakout performance against the Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. In the 45–42 comeback win in overtime, Dobbs had 301 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 166 rushing yards, and three rushing touchdowns. Against the Kentucky Wildcats at Neyland Stadium, Dobbs had 297 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 48 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown in the 50–16 victory. Dobbs was instrumental in helping Tennessee reach their first bowl game since the 2010 season. Dobbs was named the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl MVP in Tennessee's 45–28 victory over Iowa. In the game, Dobbs passed for 129 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Dobbs threw for 1,206 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions during his sophomore season. He finished the 2014 season with 469 yards rushing and eight rushing touchdowns in just six games. Dobbs received two Offensive Player of the Week honors from the Southeastern Conference, both of which came from his combined passing and rushing performances for over 400 yards in each game.

2015 season

Dobbs entered the 2015 season as Tennessee's starting quarterback. He started and appeared in all 12 regular season games and the bowl game. To open Tennessee's season on September 5, Dobbs recorded 205 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 89 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown against the Bowling Green Falcons in a 59–30 win at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. In a 2OT 31–24 loss to Oklahoma in the Tennessee 2015 home opener, Dobbs had 125 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 12 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. In a 28–27 loss to SEC East rival Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Dobbs had a season-high 136 rushing yards and had a 58-yard receiving touchdown thrown by teammate wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a trick play. Dobbs's touchdown reception against Florida was the first reception by a Tennessee quarterback since Peyton Manning caught a 10-yard pass from running back Jamal Lewis in 1997 against Arkansas. Against rival Georgia, Dobbs had a season-high 312 yards passing and three touchdowns to go along with 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His efforts in the game helped lead Tennessee to their first win over the Bulldogs since 2009. Against the #8 Alabama Crimson Tide in their annual rivalry game, Dobbs had 171 yards passing and one passing touchdown in the narrow 19–14 loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Against rival South Carolina, Dobbs passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns in the narrow 27–24 home victory. Dobbs helped lead Tennessee to a 9–4 record, which was the most for the Tennessee program since 2007. The 2015 season was culminated with a 45–6 victory over the Northwestern in the 2016 Outback Bowl. In the bowl game, Dobbs had two rushing touchdowns.

2016 season

Dobbs entered the 2016 season as Tennessee's starting quarterback in his final season of collegiate eligibility. He started and appeared in all 12 regular season games and the bowl game. Dobbs started the season with a shaky performance in a home game against Appalachian State. In the 20–13 overtime win, Dobbs had 192 yards passing but fumbled on the goal line in overtime. The fumble was recovered by teammate and running back Jalen Hurd to give Tennessee the go-ahead score. In the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, Dobbs only had 91 yards passing, but he had three passing touchdowns to go along with 106 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In a 38–28 comeback victory over rival Florida, Dobbs had 319 yards passing, four passing touchdowns, 80 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown to help lead the Volunteers to their first win over the Gators since 2004. Against rival Georgia, Dobbs had 230 yards passing, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown to win 34–31. Dobbs's last touchdown was a Hail Mary throw to wide receiver Jauan Jennings as time expired. With the victory, Tennessee was 5–0 with Dobbs as quarterback. In a 2OT 45–38 loss to Texas A&M at Kyle Field, Dobbs had a season-high 398 passing yards and one passing touchdown. In addition, he caught a receiving touchdown from Jauan Jennings, his second career receiving touchdown. Dobbs would continue to put together solid performances over the rest of the season, including a 190-rushing yard performance in a 63–37 win over Missouri and a 340-passing yard performance in a 45–34 loss against Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt Stadium, despite Tennessee fading from their 5–0 start to finish 8–4.

In the final game of his Tennessee career, Dobbs helped lead the Volunteers past the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 38–28 in the 2016 Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. He had 291 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 11 rushes for 118 yards, and three rushing touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named the MVP of the game.

Dobbs helped lead Tennessee to a second consecutive 9–4 record. Tennessee's 18 wins with Dobbs at the helm were the most over a two-year span since 2006–2007.

Professional career

Dobbs received an invitation to the Senior Bowl and was named the starting quarterback for the South. He finished the game completing 12-of-15 pass attempts for 102 passing yards and an interception, as the South defeated the North 16–15. The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a fourth to sixth round pick. NFL analyst Mike Mayock projected him to be selected in the second round and NFL.com projected him to be drafted in the third round. After attending the NFL Scouting Combine, he was ranked the seventh best quarterback in the draft by ESPN, the ninth best quarterback by Sports Illustrated, and NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the eighth best quarterback in the draft. He chose to attend Tennessee's Pro Day, alongside 19 other teammates, but decided to only perform positional drills. He held workouts for six teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers, San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New Orleans Saints.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Dobbs in the fourth round (135th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the seventh quarterback selected, and the Steelers also drafted his former Tennessee and Senior Bowl teammate, cornerback Cameron Sutton.

On May 22, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Dobbs to a four-year, $2.95 million contract with a signing bonus of $554,295.

After an injury to backup quarterback Landry Jones, Dobbs was named the starter for the Steelers' pre-season opener against the New York Giants.