Dobbs to Start vs. Dallas

Malik Willis has not thrown for 100 yards in any of his three NFL starts thus far. So, the Tennessee Titans will look at another quarterback.

NASHVILLE – Quarterback Josh Dobbs will make his first NFL start when the Tennessee Titans play host to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football, sources confirmed to All Titans.

The NFL Draft Network first reported the news.

The decision to start Dobbs – a former University of Tennessee star – over rookie quarterback Malik Willis is a surprise, even though tonight’s game is meaningless in the Titans’ pursuit of the AFC South crown. Whether the Titans win or lose, the division title will be on the line in Week 18 when Tennessee visits the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Willis had been expected to make his fourth start this season due to the ankle injury to starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Willis’ most recent start was last Sunday in a loss to Houston, when he completed 14 of 23 passes for 99 yards and two interceptions, posting a 34.5 quarterback rating. He ran seven times for 43 yards and a touchdown.

There are at least a couple of ways to look at the decision to start Dobbs, who was signed off the Detroit Lions’ practice squad on Dec. 21.

One possibility: The Titans’ offensive line is a battered, patchwork group featuring Dennis Daley, Aaron Brewer, Corey Levin, Jordan Roos and Le’Raven Clark. So the Titans may be looking to safeguard Willis’ health for the winner-take-all game in the season finale. Willis might start that game or conceivably back up Tannehill if Tannehill is able to return from the ankle injury.

A second, and seemingly less likely, possibility: The Titans may want to see if Dobbs – at this point in his career – might give Tennessee a better chance against Jacksonville than Willis. Dobbs has been in the NFL since 2017, when Pittsburgh selected him in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. He’s played six games, completing 10-of-17 passes for 45 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. Dobbs has run six times for 31 yards.

“You can see why he’s an aeronautical engineer,” offensive coordinator Todd Downing said of Dobbs, who graduated from the University of Tennessee with a 4.0 grade-point average in Aerospace Engineering in 2017. “He is a very, very bright young man, and he is working really hard to pick everything up. There’s some familiarity in the system he was in in Cleveland – carry-over and terminology. I was with (Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski) in Minnesota, so I know there’s some `same as,’ I can try to (translate for him) a little bit. So he’s in process. He’s working very hard.”

How much confidence, Downing was asked, would he have in Dobbs if he had to play this week?

“I believe anybody we put in between those stripes is going to go out there and try their rest to do it our way and the way we’ve set the standard to around here,” Downing said. “So I would expect no different from him.”

Dobbs was 35-for-53 passing for 338 yds with 2 touchdowns and zero interceptions (a 96.3 passer rating) in three preseason games with the Browns this summer. His last regular-season game was Jan. 3, 2021 with Pittsburgh. He completed four of five passes for two yards against Cleveland. 

In four seasons at the University of Tennessee, Dobbs completed 614-of-999 passes (61 percent) for 7,138 yards (11.6 yards per completion). He threw 53 touchdowns and 29 interceptions.

Dobbs is a dual threat, as he ran 438 times for 2,160 yards (5.5-yard average) and 32 touchdowns for the Vols.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Dobbs earned second-team all-SEC honors in 2016 and participated in the Senior Bowl.

Willis, a third-round pick out of Liberty last April, has played in eight games this season, starting three. He’s completed 31-of-61 passes for 276 yards and three interceptions, posting a quarterback rating of 42.8. Willis has run 27 times for 123 yards and a touchdown.