Joshua Dobbs DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Free-agent veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs reached an agreement with the New England Patriots on Monday on an undisclosed two-year deal, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. The 30-year-old journeyman signal-caller will head to the AFC East after spending the 2024 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Brock Purdy. Dobbs only appeared in two games (one start) for the Niners a season ago and went 32-for-47 for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He saw his most action (13 games) with the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings in 2023 and threw for a career-high 2,464 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023, also adding 421 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 77 carries. Dobbs has gone 3-12 in his 15 career NFL starts. Turnovers and decision-making have been an issue, but he'll provide experience as a backup to second-year QB Drake Maye.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joshua Dobbs had a fantastic fantasy performance during a 47-24 loss to the Cardinals in Arizona. The 29-year-old backup to Brock Purdy (right elbow) completed 29-of-43 attempts for a career-high 326 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He added eight carries for 17 yards, including another touchdown on a sneak. His first touchdown throw was a six-yard dart just before halftime to rookie wideout Ricky Pearsall on a slant. Later, he hit a wide-open Kyle Juszczyk down the left side for a 36-yard score. Dobbs will be a free agent this offseason and comments made to the press on Thursday about Sunday's lone start of 2024 representing an "audition not only for the team that you're on, but for the other 31 other teams" make it seem unlikely he'll be back in Northern California next year.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joshua Dobbs is set to make his only start of 2024 in a Week 18 matchup against the Cardinals in Arizona. The 29-year-old will fill in for starter Brock Purdy (right elbow), as he did for a few plays at the end of last week's loss before scoring a rushing touchdown. Dobbs made his most recent start in Week 14 of 2023 with the Minnesota Vikings, as San Francisco opted for Brandon Allen when Purdy missed Week 12 of this season at Green Bay with poor results. Dobbs made some noise in fantasy last year, averaging 15.7 Yahoo default points per game with Arizona and Minnesota. He went over 20 points five times in 13 games -- driven mostly by rushing touchdowns -- but went out with a whimper with the Vikings, failing to reach five points in his final two starts. The Cardinals are the 12th-toughest defense to opposing fantasy quarterbacks, but they've allowed five rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks -- the fifth-most in the NFL. "The Pass-tronaut" is a QB2 in Week 18, but could be a sneaky-good DFS play for those who choose to spend big at other positions.