I was really glad to see Dobson out there.

[PatriotSeven]

I was genuinely stressed out over that hit all week long so it was a big relief for me to see him out there and playing ok. So glad he's fine and still sharp enough to make that quick decision and recover his own fumble.

Now the part about fumbling it in the first place still shows he's a rookie, but that's another story. Despite the loss, and mental errors, I still have high hopes for our rookies. That run was still pretty nice and showed promise. I know we're going to see a lot more of those in the future from both our wideouts.

Anyone else felt this way?

 

[manxman2601]

A tangental point but I do think that the Pats should have gone to Dobson earlier as an offensive piece as well as Boyce when it became clear that Edelman/Amendola/Thompkins were struggling so much. What was there to lose? We needed some speed and size in that offense yesterday.

 

[PatsFan2]

I was genuinely stressed out over that hit all week long so it was a big relief for me to see him out there and playing ok. So glad he's fine and still sharp enough to make that quick decision and recover his own fumble.

Now the part about fumbling it in the first place still shows he's a rookie, but that's another story. Despite the loss, and mental errors, I still have high hopes for our rookies. That run was still pretty nice and showed promise. I know we're going to see a lot more of those in the future from both our wideouts.

Anyone else felt this way?

That should vault A. Dopson right past body catcher K. Thomkins, you are not going to be successful in this league as body catcher. There is a reason why teams value WR's with good good hands and thats not Thompkins. A. Dopson needs to be in the rotation more than Thomkins, there is reason why they took in the the Second. Funny if given the opportunity I think Josh Boyce's hands might be better than both right now.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

A tangental point but I do think that the Pats should have gone to Dobson earlier as an offensive piece as well as Boyce when it became clear that Edelman/Amendola/Thompkins were struggling so much. What was there to lose? We needed some speed and size in that offense yesterday.

The football?

With how the defense has been playing they're probably more comfortable with the better safe than sorry approach.

 

[cstjohn17]

I am also glad he was out there, he has an ability to be competitive along the sidelines. Sooner or later he will win a jump ball in a tough spot and make a big play for the Pats.

I did think that he showed a lack of instincts on his long run, maybe a better angle would help but I think he could of setup his blockers better and possibly scored. Again just a nitpick.

Kembrell may not have hands a pure as Dobson but he seems to compete more. Hard thing to quantify but Dobson looks he could use some more fire in his belly.

 

[Gronkandez]

I was impressed by his dynamic run, then bummed that he didn't have the instincts to finish the run, then even more bummed he fumbled it. He clearly has talent but his mental aspect is still a huge question mark.

 

[andrewgarrr]

I don't understand having Edelman and Amendola on the field at the same time. It will make even less sense when Gronk is play every snap...

Anyone else have an opinion? or a justification?

 

[Big-T]

He was open on the pick at the end of the game, the wet ball caused Brady to underthrow it though (didn't notice that live, the NFL Gameday highlights on nfl.com points it out) and it took a nice breakup by Newman to stop what looked like it would have been another TD.

Better execution (and weather, I suppose) and Dobson has 3 TDs yesterday and the game is a W. That's just how on point you need to be in the NFL.

Agree with the above about the mental issues too, he looks to be thinking first and playing second - like you see a lot of rookies too, when he just plays naturally things will start going better for him.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I believe that KT and Dobson will become good NFL WRs, I just don't know if they'll be good NFL WRs by week 17 this year. Let's hope so.

 

[Uncle Rico]

I was impressed by his dynamic run, then bummed that he didn't have the instincts to finish the run, then even more bummed he fumbled it. He clearly has talent but his mental aspect is still a huge question mark.

I have to think he does have the instincts — but he was doing that thinking thing. he was probably hearing every bit of coaching he's had crammed into his brain since camp opened during that run.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

I have to think he does have the instincts — but he was doing that thinking thing. he was probably hearing every bit of coaching he's had crammed into his brain since camp opened during that run.

Yep.

To me, Dobson is a very vital piece to this offense. To me, I think he alot of toms trust. But I think what we see is when rookies need to come through, and sometimes they won't. That's why we need Ridley, vereen, healthy rob Danny to take some of the load put on our rookies. They are doing pretty good IMO, but its too much to ask from them to be in sync with Tom and carry the offense along with Tom. After all, they are rookies.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Yep.

To me, Dobson is a very vital piece to this offense. To me, I think he alot of toms trust. But I think what we see is when rookies need to come through, and sometimes they won't. That's why we need Ridley, vereen, healthy rob Danny to take some of the load put on our rookies. They are doing pretty good IMO, but its too much to ask from them to be in sync with Tom and carry the offense along with Tom. After all, they are rookies.

Yep.

Just for fun I looked up what Demaryius Thomas did his rookie year.
22 rec, 283 yards, 12.9 avg., 2 tds, 15 first downs

Dobson so far (less than 1/3 through):
13 rec., 167 yards, 12.8 avg., 1 TD, 9 First Downs

Watching that Denver game Sunday, I could see Dobson evolving into a D Thomas type receiver. Part of that is being an optimistic Pats fan, to be sure, but part of that is also seeing the base skills and style. Fingers crossed.

 

[manxman2601]

The football?

With how the defense has been playing they're probably more comfortable with the better safe than sorry approach.

Well we lost the game and the football three times as it was. Still not seeing the downside.

 

[manxman2601]

Yep.

Just for fun I looked up what Demaryius Thomas did his rookie year.
22 rec, 283 yards, 12.9 avg., 2 tds, 15 first downs

Dobson so far (less than 1/3 through):
13 rec., 167 yards, 12.8 avg., 1 TD, 9 First Downs

Watching that Denver game Sunday, I could see Dobson evolving into a D Thomas type receiver. Part of that is being an optimistic Pats fan, to be sure, but part of that is also seeing the base skills and style. Fingers crossed.

I've never been a huge fan of Dobson before yesterday, but actually saw some of what might become following yesterdays game. Much happier about him today than I was Saturday. And the Thomas comp isn't too shabby.

 

[Kdo5]

I am concerned about KT's hands. He has plenty of positives but even when he makes the catches, they are not clean. If he doesn't drop it, he bobbles it. The ATL game was an exception but even then he bobbled one or two.

Dobson definitely has better hands, size, and ability to beat defenders deep. Where his route running is at and other mental things I'm not so sure. The upside is larger than KT. He's younger and has more talent.

Boyce remains an unknown.

 

[PlainOldEd]

I was impressed by his dynamic run, then bummed that he didn't have the instincts to finish the run, then even more bummed he fumbled it. He clearly has talent but his mental aspect is still a huge question mark.

At the time I thought that if he went for the right corner of the endzone he would have made it.

 

[PatriotSeven]

I am concerned about KT's hands. He has plenty of positives but even when he makes the catches, they are not clean. If he doesn't drop it, he bobbles it. The ATL game was an exception but even then he bobbled one or two.

Dobson definitely has better hands, size, and ability to beat defenders deep. Where his route running is at and other mental things I'm not so sure. The upside is larger than KT. He's younger and has more talent.

Boyce remains an unknown.

Yeah I have been higher on Dobson from the get go, but I'm pleasantly surprised with KT. Not complaining that it ended up a closer competition.

Dobson had pretty good hands in college, so hopefully it's just an adjustment period for him and KT just needs more refinement.

Even with the drops though, I don't see lazy or fear in either one of these guys so far. They look nervous and clueless at times, but they both go after the ball hard and not afraid to take hits.

I don't want them to get themselves killed, but I'd rather have the type of guys you teach to play smarter and protect themselves than those that curl up in fetal positions anytime a defender is withing 5 yards.

 

[bostonia3333]

Dobson is the key to our season really--it's really a high risk high reward situation. If we keep playing it safe by revolving our offense around the hobbits in Edelman and Amendola, we'll probably scrape by and win the AFC East, but we have no shot at going further than a wild card game.

Pats should do everything they can to get Dobson heavily involved in the playbook. What I like about Dobson is he gets open all the time, especially in KEY moments. I think he has the physical gifts and that unique ability to draw PI flags even if the throws are a bit off. Dobson had a great showing in the 4th quarter in Cincy, but Brady just made some terrible throws and couldn't allow AD to put the pressure on the ref to throw the flag--if the passes were in the same zip code, we could have had a PI call or two for our benefit.

 

[Aßßynormal]

I don't understand having Edelman and Amendola on the field at the same time. It will make even less sense when Gronk is play every snap...

Anyone else have an opinion? or a justification?

I agree.

It's not redundant in 4WR sets and you can use it 3WR sets if the TE is a blocker. However, it's not as good as, or substantially different from, the AH/WW/Gronk set we previously used to attack, primarily, the middle of the field. That was the point in changing the offense to a genuine all field attack type in the first place. Also, the lack of fear from our RBs played a role in covering the middle of the field in Cinncy. We needed to keep Woodhead, Vereen is injured a bit more often than I like and we don't have an adequate backup.

Additionally:
The rookies must play, especially Dobson. He needs to learn how to run down field with the ball (without banging into Edelman), that's rookie nerves. More importantly, slowing down or coming back to take the ball at the highest point possible (that would make him lethal) - he blew a long catch not doing that. Experience in slowing things down, coaching guidance, practice and above all playing time will help him develop. I haven't seen enough of Boyce yet but I think Dobson will be huge. We have to pay the cost to develop him.

 

[supafly]

A tangental point but I do think that the Pats should have gone to Dobson earlier as an offensive piece as well as Boyce when it became clear that Edelman/Amendola/Thompkins were struggling so much. What was there to lose? We needed some speed and size in that offense yesterday.

I understand the thought of going more to Dobson I suppose, but Boyce is getting almost zero looks--so that has to be for a reason. Through the first 5 games or approx. 1/3 of the season, Brady has targeted him 5 times I believe.

It's quite possible that there is something going on behind the scenes a bit in his route running, failure to read the same things that Brady is seeing, etc. There's obviously a reason why Brady has not trusted him so far, and why he isn't seeing much of the field--especially with Amendola's return, which will make his odds even worse.

Normally I agree with about 95% of what you say, but in this case I don't understand the thinking of completely ditching the WR's who had shown much more so far in their abilities in TC, practice, and live game reps. If a guy like Boyce were gaining the trust of the QB and coaches, then he'd be seeing the field more. How could throwing him on the field yesterday have been beneficial, especially when there were WR's out there who were much better equipped in terms of talent and knowing the weekly gameplan?

I don't understand having Edelman and Amendola on the field at the same time. It will make even less sense when Gronk is play every snap...

Anyone else have an opinion? or a justification?

It's certainly possible that they feel that the 2 of them have a good understanding of the scheme right now, and that they can both be utilized in the slot and shorter to intermediate route running, seeing as how they both have the ability to run some outside routes along with their usual shorter ones.

I personally don't have much of a problem with them on the field at the same time, especially since Edelman had come on a bit as more of an actual receiver due to Amendola's absence. As we know, one of the pluses for Amendola was his ability to be able to run more intermediate/downfield (on some level) routes. It's difficult to try and take either player off the field right now in my opinion, since Edelman has kind of come on and proven himself more. It may be that they feel that he has earned that right.

The rumors were that we were going to attempt to retain Welker on the 2/10 deal had he agreed to it, along with their obvious interest in signing Amendola--so I don't see much difference in that, if it's indeed true of course.

Since we aren't going to use any TE targets with Gronk absent, we are obviously going to need to use the pure WR game more, especially yesterday on a day where they abandoned the running game. It makes sense to me to try and get the most knowledgeable and talented players on the field, and apparently that includes Thompkins, Amendola, and Edelman--which Dobson blended throughout in certain situations. That certainly changed a bit since Amendola was on a pitch count and didn't take part in every snap.