IMG Draft Prep Trainee Joshua Dobbs Continues on his Path to the Pros

By Brandon Hall, STACK Media

To prepare for the NFL Combine and his Pro Day, Dobbs trained at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. For most prospects who turn their attention to the NFL, school typically becomes an afterthought, but not for Dobbs. He flew back to Knoxville on weekends so he could continue his academic work. The constant travel was a drain, but when has Dobbs ever been one to take the easy route?

"I'm getting the best of both worlds. At IMG, I'm getting the best training," Dobbs told STACK. "I also want to graduate and I feel like I've spent countless hours in the library or at home, late nights working toward my degree. I owe it to myself to graduate and get my degree on time."

IMG's Combine preparation program is rigorous, packing a dizzying amount of mental and physical training into each 13-hour work day. Dobbs was engrossed in every second of it, but when other players finally got a chance to unwind, he hopped on a plane back to Knoxville to face the final trials of his challenging major. It didn't take long for Dr. Taryn Morgan, IMG's Assistant Director of Athletic and Personal Development, to see that Dobbs was wired differently.

"He's an impressive kid. You know he's smart. But what he's been able to manage—finishing up his degree in aerospace engineering, traveling back and forth from Tennessee, he went to the Senior Bowl. But what I love is that he always wants to get better and always wants to learn," Morgan told STACK. "He's always locked in. He's always focused in."

Occasionally, Dobbs' aerospace expertise would manifest itself at IMG. He often used his personal drone to film his quarterback throwing sessions. Dobbs was also an elite performer in IMG's Mind Gym—a classroom above the academy's weight room stuffed with high-tech gadgets designed to challenge an athlete's hand-eye coordination, peripheral vision, reaction time and depth perception. The exercises are meant to stress the athletes and see how well they respond under pressure. Dobbs navigated them all with scary precision. One drill, for which Dobbs wore 3D glasses, required him to keep track of the flight of 9 different balls on a screen while physically sliding either left or right to avoid virtual obstacles. He focused on the screen with his hands clutching an imaginary football, nimbly avoiding obstacles while expertly processing the path of each ball.

"The Mind Gym is very beneficial, because your brain is what really separates you. Everyone is fast and everyone is strong on the field," Dobbs says.

Read the full article from STACK Media here.

For more information on IMG Academy’s professional training programs, click here.