Not too early for Arizona Cardinals to make a change at quarterback
By Jim Koch
The Arizona Cardinals surprised a bunch of their fans a couple of weeks ago when they pulled off a surprise trade for Joshua Dobbs. After all, the club had no fewer than five quarterbacks on the roster at the time. The Redbirds obviously saw something in the journeyman that the five other organizations who previously employed Dobbs must have missed.
Many Cards fans are likely wondering what the team was so enamored with after watching Dobbs' Week 1 debut against the Washington Commanders. In all fairness, the 28-year-old has been in Arizona for just 17 days. Nevertheless, the limitations that Dobbs has exhibited since he came to the NFL back in 2017 were on full display during Sunday's 20-16 loss in the nation's capital.
On the bright side, 21 of the 30 passes that came off of the arm of Dobbs were complete. However, the 6 foot 3, 220 pounder was credited with a measly 132 yards through the air. That's a hideous 4.4 yards per attempt, an average that isn't going to lead to many points scored at the NFL level.
Two fumbles by Josh Dobbs led to an Arizona Cardinals loss
Even more egregious were the two second half fumbles by Dobbs that led to 10 points by the Commanders. Both miscues occurred on the Cardinals side of the field, giving Washington QB Sam Howell a pair of short fields to work with. An argument could be made that the Cards could've left FedEx Field with a victory if not for those crushing turnovers by a seemingly rattled Dobbs.
Moving forward, Arizona really has nothing to lose by replacing Dobbs with rookie passer Clayton Tune. Many members of the "Red Sea" feel that the 24-year-old earned the job with a solid preseason performance. That contingent of Tune backers may have grown even larger after Dobbs' awful outing versus the Commanders.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon and his staff may have felt that starting Tune on the road against a stout Washington defense could have been a recipe for disaster. That excuse won't be in play next Sunday when the Cardinals play host to the New York Giants at State Farm Stadium. It's time for "Big Red" to turn the scoring attack over to Tune, and see what the talented fifth-round draft choice can do.
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(Statistics provided by ESPN.com)