Josh Dobbs was traded by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, jettisoning him to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for their fifth-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
On Tuesday morning, the Steelers brought back Devlin Hodges, an undrafted rookie who was with the team throughout the summer. Hodges, who was added to Pittsburgh's practice squad Tuesday along with linebacker Jayrone Elliott, initially signed with the Steelers in May after beating out Brogan Roback during Pittsburgh's rookie minicamp.
One of the most prolific passers in FBS history, Hodges left Samford as the school's all-time leading passer. Hodges' was the 2018 Walter Payton Award winner (the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy). The 6-foot-1, 210-pound quarterback threw for 14,584 yards and 111 touchdowns with just 41 interceptions. Hodges, who completed 69.1 percent of his attempts, threw for 4,088 yards (while completing 70.8 percent of his passes) with 36 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in 2016, his first season as a full-time starting college quarterback.
In 2018, a year after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 31 touchdowns, Hodges again broke the 4,000-yard passing barrier to go with 32 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He was also a decent scrambler at Samford, rushing for 1,017 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Like former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Hodges is an undrafted quarterback who won the Walter Payton Award. Hodges went undrafted despite having a strong performance at Samford's pro day back in March.
"I'm confident I got some good feedback and that's all I can ask for, they've said I'm going to get an opportunity and that's all I ever wanted," Hodges said after his Pro Day. Hodges added he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Drew Brees and Russell Wilson, two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks that are considered short at the NFL level.
"They're shorter guys, so you know they kind of done away with the height deal because of their success, those guys have been a role model to me," he said. "My dream is to play football as long as I can and that's what I want to do."
The Steelers will carry just two quarterbacks on the active 53-man roster in Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph. Rudolph, a third-round pick in the 2018 draft, beat out Dobbs for the job of Pittsburgh's No. 2 quarterback during the preseason. Dobbs, the Steelers' No. 2 quarterback during the 2018 season after beating out former Pittsburgh backup Landry Jones during last summer's preseason, thanked the Steelers via Twitter Monday night.
"He was a great dude," Rudolph said of Dobbs on Monday, via Steelers Now.com. "Good friend, a really good guy and I wish him the best moving forward. He's a first class dude."