How ‘baller’ Dobbs solidified his case for the 49ers’ backup quarterback job Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
SANTA CLARA– Brock Purdy was the starterBut it was quarterback Joshua Dobbs who stole the show during the 16-10 of the 49ers Preseason win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Dobbs strengthened his argument in favor San Francisco’s backup quarterback position putting on a dazzling display with his arm and legs against the New Orleans defense.
Dobbs led the 49ers in scoring drives on each of the three series he played Sunday, including an impressive two-minute drill to close the first half where he marched San Francisco’s offense 80 yards in 1:16, capping it with a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
Dobbs finished the night 12-of-21 passing for 133 yards, adding another 25 rushing yards while showing off his invaluable running ability. The veteran quarterback’s dual-threat performance didn’t just surprise fans, as Purdy was also incredibly impressed with Dobbs’ performance against the Saints.
“He’s a basketball player,” Purdy said. “He makes plays, he reads plays and he brings energy. He’s out there making plays and guys feed off of that. That’s football. It’s not always going to be pretty, you get behind and everything is going to be perfect. You’re going to have to make plays off the charts and bring some energy to the team, and guys feed off of that. So I love having him in the room and like I said, he’s pretty electric.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan also praised Dobbs’ effort, highlighting the 29-year-old quarterback’s ability to improvise and extend plays.
“He did a nice job,” Shanahan said of Dobbs’ performance. “He led us on some plays, scoring. He made a couple plays when there was nothing to do. I think it was similar to last week.”
All three of Dobbs’ work series came in the second quarter, with Brandon Allen taking quarterback reps after halftime on Sunday after previously starting the 49ers’ preseason opener. Against the Tennessee Titans last week.
Shanahan revealed that the order of Dobbs and Allen’s appearances has no bearing on where they are in the backup competition, but was predetermined before the preseason began.
“No, last week we were planning to give the No. 1 spot to Brandon (Allen) and this week we were going to give the No. 1 spot to Dobbs,” Shanahan said. “We haven’t decided on next week yet, but that was the plan all along.”
Shanahan also shared that he was impressed with both players’ performances against New Orleans on Sunday, expressing how tight the competition is for San Francisco’s No. 2 quarterback spot.
“Yeah, I think they both did a good job with the reps they were given,” Shanahan said. “Dobbs played a little bit more and I thought he did a good job leading some of those drives. When Brandon came in, he did the same thing. It was very similar to last week. The games have been tight, the practices have been tight. So it’s a good problem to have right now.”
If the race was already close, Dobbs’ flashes of brilliance on Sunday might have been strong enough to push him into pole position for the backup job, with Friday’s preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders the chance to put him over the top as the 49ers’ roster takes shape heading into Week 1.
