Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs attempted 17 passes in the NFL from the time he was drafted in 2017 until Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season. 

Since Week 17 last year, Dobbs has attempted 364 passes. 

Talk about waiting for your time to come. 

Despite receiving very few opportunities, Dobbs continued to work hard, knowing that one day his time would eventually come. 

This past week, after getting traded from the Arizona Cardinal to the Minnesota Vikings (his second trade in two months), Dobbs got the ultimate payoff. The former Vols standout led the Vikings to an improbable win against the Atlanta Falcons, despite joining the team just days before (and not even practicing with the first team offense). 

The days since that win have been a celebration of Dobbs. After being an afterthought for five years, the Georgia native has been a hot topic during NFL talk shows. Dobbs' story — he has a degree from Tennessee in aerospace engineering and he's interned with NASA — has added to the sudden nation-wide infatuation with the former fourth-round draft pick. 

Josh Dobbs is your NFC offensive player of the week! pic.twitter.com/QkuuNrPxgi

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) November 8, 2023

Dobbs is expected to start this weekend for the Vikings in their game against the New Orleans Saints. That start will give Minnesota a chance to see what they really have in the veteran quarterback. While it's unlikely that Dobbs will be a long-term option for Minnesota as a starter (Dobbs will turn 29 in January), he could still earn a future role with the Vikings — or perhaps elsewhere — as a "high-level backup quarterback". 

In fact, that's exactly what one AFC executive told ESPN this week that Dobbs will be moving forward. 

"He's earned high-level No. 2 status," said the AFC executive. "A guy who can start games for you if you need. And that pays pretty good money."

While that might sound underwhelming, it's not. ESPN noted that Dobbs has earned $7.4 million during his NFL career that started in 2017. They pointed out that Jacoby Brissett, who is considered a high-level backup, earned a one-year deal worth $10 million (with $8 million guaranteed) from the Washington Commanders this past offseason after he performed well as a "bridge starter" with the Cleveland Browns. 

Dobbs will be a free agent in March and this insight from an anonymous AFC executive suggests he could earn a similar contract ahead of the 2024 season.

Essentially, Dobbs could more than double his career earnings in one offseason thanks to his performances this season with the Cardinals and the Vikings. 

There's nothing about that kind of money that's "underwhelming". 

I'm sure there are plenty of Vols fans who want to see Dobbs get a shot as a longterm starter. And maybe he plays well enough to finish the 2023 season that someone gives him that shot. But even if that doesn't happen, Tennessee fans should be more than thrilled for Dobbs that he's finally getting a chance to show his skills in regular season games and earn some serious cash in the second half of his NFL career. Especially when it looked like he might be on his way out of the league just a couple of years ago after bouncing around between various practices squads. 

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