Patriots wide receiver Aaron Dobson needed a strong showing during the team’s final exhibition game against the Giants Thursday night, and the good news is he made a strong case for himself to earn a spot on New England’s 53-man roster for 2015.
Dobson looked really solid in the finale against New York and finally appears healthy, showing terrific speed and quickness off the line. He also looked incredibly smooth out of his breaks and resembled a number one receiver among a group of players who were not at his level as both teams sat their respective starters. The more impressive part is the fact that he did so despite not having Tom Brady or Jimmy Garoppolo throwing the football.
Overall he finished with a team-leading 56-yards on four receptions on six targets, while averaging 14.0 yards per reception. His biggest reception of the night was a 24-yard pass down the middle of the field that put the Patriots into Giants territory and helped set up their first field goal of the night.
Despite missing two games, Dobson finished the exhibition season with 6 catches for 107 yards while averaging 17.8 yards per catch, the highest average for receivers with more than one catch this preseason. His yardage total was second to Chris Harper, who finished the preseason with 15 catches for 150 yards.
Final cuts are coming Saturday, but for now there’s reason to believe that Dobson should be on the roster by the time the dust settles. He’s got the physical tools at 6’3″ and plenty of speed to provide the Patriots with a deep threat to stretch the field. Should he play up to his potential and be the dominant receiver he was at Marshall in this offense, it’s hard not to get a little excited about how even more dangerous this team could be this season with him in the mix heading into this season.
Dobson worked hard this offseason out in Arizona to get himself ready to compete in what’s clearly an important year for him. Now we’ll see if that hard work will see him stay healthy and allow him to put together a solid 2015 campaign.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
