Patriots gridiron news: Phillip Dorsett an X-factor; team adds Edelman clone
Entering the season with just two wide receivers from 2017, the New England Patriots will count highly on fourth-year receiver Phillip Dorsett.
With Brandin Cooks now in Los Angeles and Danny Amendola sporting the teal and white down in Miami, the New England Patriots enter the 2018 NFL season with just three wide receivers familiar with the team’s offense.
One of those players is fourth-year wide receiver Phillip Dorsett. While much of the pressure will be on Chris Hogan to produce in the offense with Julian Edelman serving a four-game suspension, Dorsett predicts to be one of Tom Brady’s main targets.
If he can find the consistency he has lacked in his first three seasons in the NFL, Dorsett could flourish in an expanded role. The Patriots are certainly counting on and so is the receiver who was acquired in a deal with the Indianapolis Colts for Jacoby Brissett to start the 2017 NFL season.
Now comfortable in the system and with Brady, Phillip Dorsett is confident he can add more to the team than the 12 passes for 194 yards he caught a season ago.
"“I think my comfort level has gotten a lot better,” Dorsett said, as transcribed by the Providence Journal. “But you can’t get complacent in this offense. Everything changes. There’s a lot thrown at you, and they expect the best from you. So if you don’t bring your best out there, something bad is going to happen.”"
Dorsett will be thrown in the fire right away. Unless some blockbuster trade happens to bring in another wide receiver between now and Sunday’s Week 1 opener against the Houston Texans, the 5-foot-10, 192-pound wide receiver will start opposite Chris Hogan.
In an offense that will primarily feature tight end Rob Gronkowski and the running backs, Dorsett will have an opportunity to flourish on the outside similar to what Cooks did a season ago. While the numbers aren’t there, Dorsett does have similar speed to that of Cooks, but will need to add both toughness and a reliable set of hands to produce even half the production both Cooks and Amendola produced a season ago.
Overall, there will be a lot of pressure on Phillip Dorsett, but it is a pressure that will ultimately determine what kind of NFL player he will be, especially in the New England Patriots offensive system. To say he is an X-factor this season is an understatement.
Simply put, the University of Miami product is primed to make the next step in his career and positioned to be the next wide receiver Tom Brady turns into a major contributor.