I'm actually agreeing with you and attempting to provide further context by demonstrating the variability in the productivity of the #4/#8 on the Pats from year-to-year, which I why I also mentioned Dobson.
It's also why I mentioned the #4/#8 on other teams. The bashing of Dorsett for his lack of productivity is similar to the bashing of Gillislee for his, IMHO. Folks seem to make the assumption that, because these players are not meeting their expectations as fans, they must be "bad". They seem to forget the context: this is the Patriots. The bar is set pretty high, even for the "low man".
Players on the Pats who are "low man" are typically in that position because there are several players ahead of them who are really, really good. That doesn't necessarily make these low men "bad players", especially compared to players who rank #4/#8 (or even higher) on most other teams around the NFL.
Maybe the Pats could have done "better", but they also could've done a lot worse.
Perhaps because Amendola has had nearly five full years working with Brady (and McD), and had four seasons of significant NFL experience before even coming to the Pats. In comparison, Dorsett has had relatively little experience (not even an off-season with the Pats), and yet he's been reasonably productive for his #4/#8 ranking (IMHO).
I'm not sure why it matters that some other team considered him 1st-round worthy at some point in the past.
Dorsett, #8 in yds/game-played at 11.7:
... 7/11 (64%) ... 140 yds (20.0 ypc) ... long of 38 & 39
Hollister, #10 in yds/game-played at 3.4:
... 3/7 (43%) ... 37 yds (12.3 ypc) ... long of 19
Hollister had a full off-season. Allen had a full off-season. Dorsett did not.
I readily admit that I'm ****oo for Cocoa Puffs and probably shouldn't have access to power tools or sharp objects, but I don't think I'm enough of a moron to get anywhere near making such an extreme claim.
Precisely. And with good reason, IMHO.
Yup. The 5th-year option (~$8.1M, IIRC) is certainly off the table. And the reality is that Dorsett may not even make it through cutdowns next September, depending on who the Pats might pick up in FA and during draft weekend next spring.
I expect there to be a crap-tonne of new faces on the 90-man off-season roster in 2018 competing for WR (and TE) spots on the final 53-man ...
- Amendola is UFA and turned 32 this past Nov-2
- Edelman turns 32 in May, and will be attempting to come back from a critical injury
- Hogan turns 30 next October and will be embarking on his contract year
- Mitchell, 6 months younger than Dorsett, will be attempting to comeback from a critical injury
- Behind Gronk (29 in May), there's only Allen (28 in Feb), Hollister (25 next Nov), Tye (27 next Nov) and Bennett - who turns 31 in March and will be attempting to come back from shoulder surgery. Develin turns 30 next July and will be embarking on his contract year in 2018.
At this point, Dorsett seems likely to be a part of the mix through next August at least, probably along with Cody Hollister, McCarron and possibly even Reedy. Reedy turns 26 on New Year's Eve. All the rest (plus Cooks) turn 25 sometime in 2018.
