Decision to go With Dobbs Goes Against History

The Tennessee Titans have made the playoffs just once in 23 years when they have used three different starting quarterbacks during the NFL regular season.

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

NASHVILLE – Two quarterbacks plus one more is typically not a winning formula. At least it has not been for the Tennessee Titans.

Josh Dobbs became the Titans’ third different starting quarterback this season when he took the field at the start of Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys at Nissan Stadium. The sixth-year veteran played all the way to the finish and kept things competitive throughout.

The 27-13 defeat, however, dropped Tennessee to 7-9 on the season, extended its current losing streak to six games and ensured a losing record for the first time since 2015.

"You know, he was in command," running back Hassan Haskins said. "He was in control. He knew everything that was going on. ... He did real good."

Although the wins and losses are slightly better than some in some other years, the sub-.500 mark is consistent with those during the Titans era (1999-present) when the franchise has used more than two quarterbacks. Only once to date, has Tennessee made the postseason when it had to use three different starting quarterbacks during the regular season.

A rundown of the seasons in which the Tennessee Titans have used three or more different starting quarterbacks:

Year	Record	Quarterbacks
2003	12-4	Steve McNair (10-4), Billy Volek (1-0), Neil O’Donnell (1-0)
2005	4-12	Steve McNair (4-10), Billy Volek (0-1), Matt Mauck (0-1)
2010	6-10	Vince Young (4-4), Kerry Collins (2-5), Rusty Smith (0-1)
2014	2-14	Jake Locker (1-4), Charlie Whitehurst (1-4), Zach Mettenberger (0-6)
2022	7-9-*	Ryan Tannehill (6-6), Malik Willis (1-2), Josh Dobbs (0-1)

(*-one game remaining)

The decision to go with Dobbs, who has been on the roster for fewer than two weeks, was made to allow coaches the opportunity to weigh their options for the matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final week of the regular season, which will determine first place in the AFC South and an automatic playoff berth.

The result had no bearing on Tennessee’s playoff chances, and coach Mike Vrabel said he was prepared to go back to rookie Malik Willis, who started last Saturday against Houston, if Dobbs struggled.

Veteran Ryan Tannehill is not an option because of an ankle injury that has sidelined him for a second time. Prior to the matchup with Dallas, he was placed on injured reserve, a move that ended his season. The only other option, therefore, is Willis, the third-round pick out of Liberty University who is 1-2 as a starter but has not thrown for more than 99 yards in a game.

“It was a great opportunity to evaluate (Dobbs),” Vrabel said. “And we’ll make a decision going forward.

“I thought he did some good things. I thought he certainly would like to have a couple throws back. We’ll see where things are here in a couple of days.”

A fourth-round pick out of the University of Tenessee by Pittsburgh in 2017, this was Dobbs’ first start and just his seventh career appearance.

Dobbs led the Titans’ offense, which was without running back Derrick Henry, to 317 total yards, was better than the average of 294.4 over the previous 15 outings. He threw a touchdown pass – a 7-yard connection with Robert Woods late in the third quarter – which is something Willis has not done in his three starts to date. His 232 passing yards were close to the number Willis has managed for the season (276).

“We’re excited about having Malik. We are,” Vrabel said. “We’re excited about some of the things that he’s done.

“We’ll continue to digest this over the weekend. … We’ll just have to see where we are with the quarterback position going down here to the last week of the season.”

At this point, it is possible that they have used one too many.