Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs might not have passed Clemson’s Deshaun Watson on NFL draft boards on Saturday, but he beat him in the NFL combine events at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Dobbs ran a faster 40-yard-dash time, jumped higher in the vertical jump and longer in the broad jump than Watson, while tying the fellow Georgia high school product in the 20-yard shuttle.
RELATED: Josh Dobbs ‘somewhat comparable’ to Deshaun Watson
Dobbs is from Alpharetta High School while Watson hails from Gainesville (Ga.) High School, some 40 miles away.
The most important thing for Dobbs on Saturday, however, was how well he threw the football, according to former NFL pro scout and director of pro personnel Louis Riddick.
“Josh Dobbs, who was down at the Senior Bowl, again he continues to impress me,” said Riddick, who prior to his current role as ESPN analyst was the director of pro personnel for the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.
“He looked very comfortable, looked a little bit robotic in some of his drops, but his accuracy, again, was good, and he didn’t flinch at all in this, which I think continues to bode well for his prospects once he continues to get the kind of NFL environment coaching he’s going to get.”
Dobbs, Athlon’s 2016 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, posted 3,781 total yards of offense last season and joined Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott and Florida’s Tim Tebow as the only SEC quarterbacks in history to record 15 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs in multiple seasons.
Dobbs’ leadership and work in the community led coach Butch Jones to famously refer to his 2016 team as “Champions of Life.”
RELATED: Dobbs tackles tough questions on Jalen Hurd, tough fans
ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay conceded that Dobbs has indeed worked himself into the conversation of top quarterback prospects.
“I think with guys like Dobbs continuing to excel in the pre-draft process, and (Nathan) Peterman, (and) Davis Webb showing some positive signs coming out of Cal,” McShay said, “I think it’s a deeper group than maybe we originally anticipated.”
Peterman, who began his career at Tennessee before transferring to Pitt, also impressed Riddick.
“Nate Peterman who worked under center at Pitt, a lot of people like him because he was asked to do some things you see at the NFL level,” Riddick said on Saturday night’s live SportsCenter. “(He) doesn’t have the greatest arm, but you could see the timing mechanism was very natural to him.”
RELATED: Tale of Tennessee, Nathan Peterman reflects on time with Vols
Watson, North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky and Texas Tech’s Pat Mahomes received the majority of praise from McShay.
QUARTERBACKS AT NFL COMBINE
40-yard dash
Trevor Knight 4.54 seconds
Josh Dobbs 4.64 seconds
Deshaun Watson 4.66 seconds
Mitchell Trubisky 4.67 seconds
Davis Webb 4.79 seconds
Patrick Mahomes 4.80 seconds
Jerod Evans 4.80 seconds
Nathan Peterman 4.82 seconds
DeShone Kizer 4.83 seconds
Mitch Leidner 4.93 seconds
Brad Kaaya N/A
C.J. Beathard N/A
Vertical jump
Trevor Knight 35.5 inches
Mitch Leidner 34.5 inches
Josh Dobbs 33.0 inches
Davis Webb 33.0 inches
Deshaun Watson 32.5 inches
Nathan Peterman 31.0 inches
C.J. Beathard 31.0 inches
DeShone Kizer 30.5 inches
Patrick Mahomes 30.0 inches
Mitchell Trubisky 27.5 inches
Sefo Liufau 27 inches
Long jump
Trevor Knight 125 inches
Mitch Leidner 123 inches
Josh Dobbs 122 inches
Deshaun Watson 119 inches
Davis Webb 118 inches
Mitchell Trubisky 116 inches
Patrick Mahomes 114 inches
C.J. Beathard 113 inches
Jerod Evans 112 inches
Nathan Peterman 110 inches
DeShone Kizer 107 inches
20-yard shuttle
Patrick Mahomes 4.08 seconds
Trevor Knight 4.14 seconds
Davis Webb 4.21 seconds
Mitch Leidner 4.25 seconds
Mitch Trubisky 4.25 seconds
Josh Dobbs 4.31 seconds
Nathan Peterman 4.31 seconds
DeShaun Watson 4.31 seconds
Jerod Evans 4.41 seconds
Sefo Liufau 4.45 seconds
DOBBS vs. TEE MARTIN
(NFL combine comparison)
Josh Dobbs Tee Martin
(2017) (2000)
6-3, 216 6-2, 227
4.64-second 40 4.58-second 40
33-inch vertical 34.5-inch vertical
122-inch long jump 113-inch long jump
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Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs
Posted by Tennessee Volunteers Insiders on Thursday, January 26, 2017
The post Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs outperforms Deshaun Watson in NFL combine events appeared first on SEC Country.