Aaron Dobson

I wonder how bad LaFell's injury is. What if he is on the 'Designated to return list'? Might open the door for Harper unless we sign a free agent.

Well whichever is best. I'm just saying if he won't be ready until midseason-ish it makes the roster interesting.

patsinthesnow said:

Dobson & KT played a key role in Brady having the second worst season of his career apart from 2006. They weren't good, at all.

There is little evidence he can even be an effective NFL WR. He's also injury prone.

Bringing up his rookie stats are nonsense because 1. The only other options were Collie and Slater 2. The NFL has changed big time. Check out all the rookie WR stats from 2014.

Put 2002 rookie Branch in Dobson's 2013 situation and his stats are much different.

I have low expectations. We'll see. Tough to see him cracking the field when Lafell comes back.

Click to expand...

Everything else aside, it's interesting that historical rookie WR production last year serves as proof that the NFL has changed "big time" since two years ago.

patriot1136 said:

Well whichever is best. I'm just saying if he won't be ready until midseason-ish it makes the roster interesting.

Click to expand...

Just leave on PUP

I think he will make the team. Before his injuries all the talk was how great he looked in camp. And he looked like the 2nd best reciever out there at times.

I always thought Belichick has been very patient with his players. As long as he sees them getting better he tends to keep them around. I remember him saying if players keep improving then you really don't know what their ceiling is.

If players kind of level off and keep the same level of performance or start to regress, then you have a pretty good idea of what they can do.

In the end being healthy or able to play injured will trump being more talented but can't play because of injuries. If Dobson is still injured when they do the cut down to 53 then he might be in jeporady. Most likely they would IR him at that point.

Canuck said:

If Dobson is still injured when they do the cut down to 53 then he might be in jeporady. Most likely they would IR him at that point.

Click to expand...

Or they could keep him on the roster if they feel he is just about ready. Or they could IR/DTR which is an option to give him time to heal.

My guess is he will be on the Roster. He has 6 weeks to get healthy of they need it.

BradyFTW! said:

DT's first two seasons were spent with Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow at QB. If he'd put up those numbers with Tom Brady throwing him the ball, then yeah, he probably would've been on the bubble, since it would be a pretty solid indication that he wasn't very good.

Making this kind of comparison requires omitting a ton of key factors. It's similar to all the Jets fans who were convinced Sanchez would still be awesome after 3 years of subpar performance, since Aikman sucked for a couple years too.

Click to expand...

I tend to disagree with the conception that a WR playing with Brady is more successful. Tom Brady requires the WRs to earn his trust, by running the correct routes, catching the ball when it's catchable and be in the right places or he does not include them in them in the offense. We have seen this throughout the years with many receivers. If anything it is harder for a young WR to be successful on the Patriots than it would be on a team with Tebow or Orton. Look at the season Orton and Brandon Lloyd had compared to the season he had with Brady.

I do agree that it requires many factors, but the premise is the same, a young WR who struggled with injuries and drops in his first 2 seasons. I'm not suggesting that Dobson will be the player Thomas is, I am only suggesting that his development is not off par with other WRs in the league. Do you disagree with that? The determination if Dobson is good is yet to come, the determination that Sanchez sucks is made based on him continuing to struggle beyond his first couple years. If Dobson does not turn the corner his career will go the Sanchez route, but he still has a chance to go the Thomas route at this juncture as well.

Brady6 said:

I tend to disagree with the conception that a WR playing with Brady is more successful. Tom Brady requires the WRs to earn his trust, by running the correct routes, catching the ball when it's catchable and be in the right places or he does not include them in them in the offense. We have seen this throughout the years with many receivers. If anything it is harder for a young WR to be successful on the Patriots than it would be on a team with Tebow or Orton. Look at the season Orton and Brandon Lloyd had compared to the season he had with Brady.

I do agree that it requires many factors, but the premise is the same, a young WR who struggled with injuries and drops in his first 2 seasons. I'm not suggesting that Dobson will be the player Thomas is, I am only suggesting that his development is not off par with other WRs in the league. Do you disagree with that? The determination if Dobson is good is yet to come, the determination that Sanchez sucks is made based on him continuing to struggle beyond his first couple years. If Dobson does not turn the corner his career will go the Sanchez route, but he still has a chance to go the Thomas route at this juncture as well.

Click to expand...

All of Dobson's stats came in a season where he was starting pretty much by default. I'm not at all convinced that Dobson and Thompkins ever really had to earn Brady's trust, and certainly not to the extent that the WRs that came before them did. Brady had to throw to them, because they were pretty much the only healthy bodies available in the passing game after Edelman.

I'm rooting for Dobson. I would love nothing more than to be wrong and have DT turn out to be a valid comp. But I just don't see it as anything more than a borderline-implausible best case scenario.

Elijah said:

Everything else aside, it's interesting that historical rookie WR production last year serves as proof that the NFL has changed "big time" since two years ago.

Click to expand...

I was referring to individuals that compare Dobson's rookie stats to Branch's of 2002 as some sort of success.

Frankly i dont give a .... bout this comparisons...branch, demarious thomas, etc,
Dobson was unable to show his talent, foot injury and then probably cause mishandled treatment he lost a season and i hope that this is not connected with his hammy issues, cause i wish that he wont becom Ras-I.
I want to see him injury free this year and we ll see if our hype is any good or the critics will have told u so party

mihap said:

Frankly i dont give a .... bout this comparisons...branch, demarious thomas, etc,
Dobson was unable to show his talent, foot injury and then probably cause mishandled treatment he lost a season and i hope that this is not connected with his hammy issues, cause i wish that he wont becom Ras-I.
I want to see him injury free this year and we ll see if our hype is any good or the critics will have told u so party

Click to expand...

I don't compare. I just look.

Does AD pass the eye test? Yes. I keep trying for now and hope to get him some preseason reps.



Just watch this and tell me he doesn't have something.

KontradictioN said:

That's why many of us wanted to invest in the position during FA and the draft. The Pats were extremely fortunate to be healthy at that position last year.

Click to expand...

Calm down. We have Slater!

Word up is this summah he's not flailing away at the ball like a man frantically swatting at hornets.

BobDigital said:

I don't compare. I just look.

Does AD pass the eye test? Yes. I keep trying for now and hope to get him some preseason reps.



Just watch this and tell me he doesn't have something.

Click to expand...

He was very intriguing, but that was 2 years ago, and he's spent most of his time since then injured and off the field. That career path in a young player rarely goes in his favor. I think it's prudent, both for the organization and fans, to assume that he's not the exception to the rule and be pleasantly surprised if wrong.

BobDigital said:

I don't compare. I just look.

Does AD pass the eye test? Yes. I keep trying for now and hope to get him some preseason reps.



Just watch this and tell me he doesn't have something.

Click to expand...

read again my post. our hype. its my hype too.
i just wanna him to play whole season to show wat he s capable off

robertweathers said:

That's fine but in your collective views how did they mishandle it?

Click to expand...

He hurt his foot late in his rookie season and they didn't give him time to get better for the playoffs run. They threw him out there in a meaningless game against buffalo and he re injured it rendering him useless for the playoffs. Then, they waited to see if it was capable of healing on its own instead of operating on it right after the season ended. I don't know the dates specifically, but he had surgery on his foot about halfway through the offseason keeping him out of camp, and essentially ruining his 2014 season.

mihap said:

read again my post. our hype. its my hype too.
i just wanna him to play whole season to show wat he s capable off

Click to expand...

I know what your post said. I was not me trying to exactly prove you right or wrong. It was me stating my thoughts and feelings on the same kind of topic you mentioned.

patsinthesnow said:

I was referring to individuals that compare Dobson's rookie stats to Branch's of 2002 as some sort of success.

Click to expand...

Here's my perspective, which I will admit is very flawed as I was 7 years old during Branch's rookie year: Branch earned his snaps, whereas Dobson got them by default. That can't be denied. But I think Dobson truly did show *something* in 2013. We can't make a direct comparison to Branch or even cite Branch as a reason that Dobson will do well, but I just went back and watched some 2013 footage and he did flash at times. I'm not expecting him to break out, but I'm not expecting a repeat of last year. I think he'll be good for ~30 catches, most of which are >10 yards.

BobDigital said:

I know what your post said. I was not me trying to exactly prove you right or wrong. It was me stating my thoughts and feelings on the same kind of topic you mentioned.

Click to expand...

ok sorry for being agressive my mistake. i went trough first pages and than i glanced with my eyes those comparison from diferent posters and i dont like comparisons to defend players like Dobson. Kid has potential but not enough luck to show it. Glad that we are on both sides and keep ur fingers crossed on Dobsons health.

New England Pride said:

He hurt his foot late in his rookie season and they didn't give him time to get better for the playoffs run. They threw him out there in a meaningless game against buffalo and he re injured it rendering him useless for the playoffs. Then, they waited to see if it was capable of healing on its own instead of operating on it right after the season ended. I don't know the dates specifically, but he had surgery on his foot about halfway through the offseason keeping him out of camp, and essentially ruining his 2014 season.

Click to expand...

Its a tough call to make to determine if the team's course of treatment for AD was bordering on malpractice. Depending on the type of stress fracture, they can take 6-8 weeks to heal. As I understand it, since he experienced the injury Week 12, he had ~5 weeks to heal which seems on the low side but reasonable. Depending on the severity of the break and location, there are some instances where stress fractures just need surgery no matter what but if you can play through it, it won't cause additional/long term damage. However, as you point out, depending on the fracture if you keep walking/running/jumping on it, the break will take longer to heal or potentially expand.

My point is that I struggle with perceptions we as fans have around what the team/doctors did right/wrong with a patient. I'm just as guilty in doing that. We don't know the diagnosis or the prognosis.

IMO, when it comes to injuries, I think the Pats more often than not err on the side of caution and do not force players out there that have a heightened risk of long term injury. Without knowing anything, I really don't think they were rolling the dice with AD's career or grossly misdiagnosed the condition.

I'm not a doctor but I've had two different types of stress fractures. For the first one, recovery was easy as it was minor. For the second one, it was sheer hell because I never let it fully heal.