Rookie Wide Receivers

[PatsFan2]

He caught 6 of 10 targets, but he should have had 3 of the 4 that he didn't catch, and 2 of them were terrible drops. Especially given the drop on 4th down, I'm not sure why you'd be surprised that some people aren't happy with that.

I think Dobson is showing better, and he seems to have passed Thompkins on the depth chart, but he's got to catch the ball better.

Ugh? Is that a typo?

 

[PatsFan2]

He caught 6 of 10 targets, but he should have had 3 of the 4 that he didn't catch, and 2 of them were terrible drops. Especially given the drop on 4th down, I'm not sure why you'd be surprised that some people aren't happy with that.

I think Dobson is showing better, and he seems to have passed Thompkins on the depth chart, but he's got to catch the ball better.

Sorry didn't know he stared on Sunday over Thompkins, started watching at the start of the Second.

 

[50-yard-line]

This.

Dobson gets open! He has a terrible problem with drops right now but that could easily change. I hope we don't run this guy out of town after one or two years, because another team will pick him up and make a play-maker out of him, and we'll regret it.

People are looking for drops from him (after the Jets game), and so they're exacerbated. It's like buying a car and driving home to see that a bunch of other people have the same car (which you never noticed before).

Edelman dropped a couple the other day. So did a couple of the Saints' receivers.

Dobson does have to secure the easy ones better, I agree, but there are few rookie WRs this year I'd trade him for - maybe Hopkins. Maybe.

I think he's going to have a great career.

The one who concerns me is Boyce. I was high on him, but apparently, he isn't getting it. I hope he works out. You can't teach speed.

 

[zydecochris]

Good point about Dobson, very encouraging.

He didn't seem to have much trouble with drops in college, so perhaps his NFL drops are due to focus and concentration issues. Now he has to simultaneously keep in his mind all of the route adjustments, blocking assignments, etc. in the very complicated Tom Brady offense, while in college it was just "run fast make a cut and make sure you catch the ball" (to over simplify a bit), so concentrating on catching the ball was easier.

Once he picks up the offense better and can better concentrate on catching the ball, with hard work (as you point out, drops are correctable with hard work), maybe he will "drop" the drops. And, as you say, he seems to be getting separation and get off the line better than perhaps we had hoped for.

He does seem to have the biggest upside of the rookie receivers, hopefully he will grow into a legitimate Number 1 receiver in time.

Just to add a little historical perspective to this topic, Years ago, the big complaint about Jerry vRice in his rookie year was the huge numbers of drops he had.

Obviously Rice worked hard to change that situation, because with a LOT of hard work, hands are one thing that can definitely be improved on. It just depends on how hard these kids are willing to work in the off season. In the meantime we will all have to live with the growing pains because its not like we have a plan C to go to.

On a positive note. The book on Dobson coming out of college was that he NEVER dropped anything that hit his huge hands, but had trouble getting off the LOS and creating separation on his routes.

Well to date this "book" is wrong on all three counts. Clearly he has had drops, but on the other hand he is better than we expected in getting off the LOS and better at getting separation while running his routes

Clearly both Thomkins and Dobson are works in progress, and Boyce is clearly in his redshirt year, although he too might see more action than expected as time goes on.

 

[chasa]

The one who concerns me is Boyce. I was high on him, but apparently, he isn't getting it. I hope he works out. You can't teach speed.

the issue isn't so much boyce as its we don't have room on the field for a 4th receiver.

Edleman is playing well, Dobson and thompkins are playing well, 5 offenseive linemen, Brady, a tight end, and a Running back. thats our 11 on offense.

a 4 receiver set would be interesting to see, but that leaves us down a blocker(TE on the line, RB on blitz pickup)

 

[50-yard-line]

the issue isn't so much boyce as its we don't have room on the field for a 4th receiver.

Edleman is playing well, Dobson and thompkins are playing well, 5 offenseive linemen, Brady, a tight end, and a Running back. thats our 11 on offense.

a 4 receiver set would be interesting to see, but that leaves us down a blocker(TE on the line, RB on blitz pickup)

Yeah, I see that, but when KT and AD were both banged up, I was hoping to see more of him, and think we would have if he was where he should be...

Also, they brought in Collie and moved him ahead of Boyce.

 

[dales804]

the issue isn't so much boyce as its we don't have room on the field for a 4th receiver.

Edleman is playing well, Dobson and thompkins are playing well, 5 offenseive linemen, Brady, a tight end, and a Running back. thats our 11 on offense.

a 4 receiver set would be interesting to see, but that leaves us down a blocker(TE on the line, RB on blitz pickup)

They used a 4 WR set at the end of last week's game. The fourth WR on was Collie and not Boyce, however.

 

[upstater1]

Keenan Allen has looked the best of any rookie receiver so far. He was taken in the 3rd round.

 

[PatsFan2]

Keenan Allen has looked the best of any rookie receiver so far. He was taken in the 3rd round.

Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins was considered to two most pro ready WR's. Around the draft the rumors was that Keenan Allen had bad knees. My question now is what bad knees? some of these teams doctors need to get their facts straight. San Diego just got a First Round Talent in the Third!

 

[Snake Eyes]

Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins was considered to two most pro ready WR's. Around the draft the rumors was that Keenan Allen had bad knees. My question now is what bad knees? some of these teams doctors need to get their facts straight. San Diego just got a First Round Talent in the Third!

He was definitely hurting from the injury, he ran 4.71, 4.75 at his pro day, he claimed that without the injury he'd be around 4.5, to people who worship that stuff it's a big deal.

 

[BradyFTW!]

People are looking for drops from him (after the Jets game), and so they're exacerbated. It's like buying a car and driving home to see that a bunch of other people have the same car (which you never noticed before).

Edelman dropped a couple the other day. So did a couple of the Saints' receivers.

Dobson does have to secure the easy ones better, I agree, but there are few rookie WRs this year I'd trade him for - maybe Hopkins. Maybe.

I think he's going to have a great career.

The one who concerns me is Boyce. I was high on him, but apparently, he isn't getting it. I hope he works out. You can't teach speed.

When you have three rookie receivers, one of them isn't going to see the field much. If Boyce was seeing a lot of snaps, we'd have the same complaint about Dobson. I think we can safely say that the Pats don't want to have three rookie receivers on the field at any time, so let's hold off on judging Boyce for at least a year or so.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins was considered to two most pro ready WR's. Around the draft the rumors was that Keenan Allen had bad knees. My question now is what bad knees? some of these teams doctors need to get their facts straight. San Diego just got a First Round Talent in the Third!

See: Danario Alexander. Just because a guy makes it through six games doesn't mean that his knees are actually okay. It means that the wear and tear hasn't gotten to him yet. There's a reason why guys with bad knees see their draft stock dramatically lowered.

IMO, third round was the right place for him. Yes, he's a first round talent, but if you have a lot of questions about his knees, then you're looking at a guy who will likely be a limited contributor and who probably won't be able to give it his all in practice, stymieing his development. At a third round price, you take him anyway and just get what you can out of him while he's healthy enough to produce, and furthermore hold out some hope that his knees turn out to be fine and you get an absolute steal.

Prior to that, you're taking an unnecessary risk, because there's a lot of other guys out there with just as much talent but without such obvious downside risk.