SI Ranks 49ers QB Joshua Dobbs the NFL's 13th Best Backup QB

Dobbs might be able to do well for the 49ers for a game or two, but not for an extended stretch.

Grant Cohn | Jun 3, 2024

Dec 10, 2023; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs (15) throws the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

Backup quarterback has become an increasingly important position in the NFL.

Last season, a mere 9 quarterbacks started all 17 games, and only 14 quarterbacks started at least 16. Which means most starting quarterbacks missed time in 2023.

In 2022, the 49ers went through four quarterbacks -- Trey Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson. All four got injured. So their backups matter.

This season, their backup quarterback is Joshua Dobbs, whom Sports Illustrated recently ranked the 13th-best backup in the NFL.

"Dobbs’s chaotic 2023 season will be best remembered for guiding the Vikings to a victory against the Falcons five days after being traded by the Cardinals. Dobbs also had a memorable win against the Dallas Cowboys as a member of the Cardinals. But Dobbs is a bit erratic at times, but his highs tend to win games and it helps that he received guidance from Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell last season and now will get to learn from 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan."

Dobbs might be able to do well for the 49ers for a game or two, but not for an extended stretch. Which is too bad, because the 49ers are built to make a quarterback's life easy (until he gets injured behind an offensive line that struggles in pass protection), because the weapons are so good and the scheme is top-notch.

Don't be surprised if Brandon Allen beats out Joshua Dobbs as the no. 2 quarterback. Dobbs is very smart and picks up systems quickly, but Allen has been here for a year and knows the system better, which could give him a leg up in the eyes of the coaches.

Published Jun 3, 2024

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.