Ever since the start of his career, Phillip Dorsett has been a commodity that has been criminally underused.
When the University of Miami alum was selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, skepticism arose in me as to what role Dorsett would play with the Indianapolis Colts.
The team already had wide receivers TY Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and tight end Coby Fleener to spread the ball around to. On top of that, the team signed Houston Texans great Andre Johnson that offseason.
As expected, Dorsett was invisible, only recording 18 receptions and a singular touchdown. His time with the Colts came to a disappointing end when the team traded him to the New England Patriots for Jacoby Brissett.
The move was exciting to me because of how much I thought Dorsett fit the mold of what the Patriots were looking for. My thought was Brandin Cooks’ contract was too hefty for the Patriots to continue to pay past that year and Dorsett was the cheaper option. Low and behold, the Patriots traded Cooks and turned to Dorsett showcasing him in the 2018 season opener.
Dorsett recorded seven catches for 66 yards and a score—his best performance of his career up to that point. After playing at least more than 60 percent of the time to start the season, the former Colt seemed to find his rhythm. Then the Josh Gordon trade happened.
After seeing high snap totals to start off the year, Dorsett was invisible again. He found himself harboring less than four percent of the snaps as Gordon took the playing time originally given to Dorsett.
After Gordon was suspended, Dorsett was thrusted back into the spotlight recording a season-high three receiving touchdowns on 32 receptions. In the postseason, he had touchdowns in both the Divisional round against the Los Angeles Chargers and the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fast forward to now, N’Keal Harry is placed on short-term injured reserve and there is a hole to be filled behind Julian Edelman and Gordon. Dorsett took it and, pun intended, ran with it. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers in this year’s opener, he caught four passes for a team-high 95 yards and two scores.
Dorsett, when called upon, has been solid and to say the least, reliable. In his last 23 targets in regular season games, he has 23 receptions.
Quarterback Tom Brady, in his weekly interview with WEEI this past Summer, gushed over Dorsett and talked about how much he trusted him.
“Phillip is a guy that I’ve played a lot of football with, and I have a lot of trust in – experience is a great thing in football if you use it well, and I think our experience together pays off,” Brady said on WEEI. “I read his body language. I think the great thing about Phil, he takes advantage of his opportunities. A lot of guys have been injured this preseason. Phil plays all three wide receiver positions, remembers all the coaching points from all the times we’ve talked about certain things. Even though he may not have done it, he goes in there and does it the way that Coach wants it done. I love playing with Phil. He’s been a great contributor to our team, and he had a great night.”
Then this past week, it happened again. The Patriots bring in another controversial receiver, Antonio Brown, almost to the day they brought in Gordon last season. Brady and the Patriots spent all their energy getting Brown acclimated to the offense, as he grabbed four receptions and a touchdown, all the while Dorsett’s butt kissed the bench.
One cannot help but feel bad for the former first-round draft pick. Ever since he stepped into the building after being traded for a backup quarterback, Dorsett seemed to work day in and day out to gain the trust of Brady all the while running into the conundrum of getting supplanted by someone else.
As Brown gets more familiar with the offense and Harry nears his return, Dorsett will find himself getting acquainted with the bench once again.
4 Responses
Sam do you smoke crack?
Couldn’t agree more Sam. Very consistent and reliable contributor. Love Dorset. I realize the possibilities that Brown can add to the receiving core of the Patriots and anticipate some memorable performance. In my heart of hearts feel we could win without him. At any rate I hope they can work Phillip in with some consistency so he can show his own potential.
I feel he is being underused too; keeps just doing his job, never complaining, can play numerous receiver positions, and now Brown comes into the picture and he’s on the bench again. I really hope the Pats howgood he is and try to use him more often. I don’t he has dropped one pass this season. Give him a break!!!
Your right they need to let him catch the ball he is as good as everyone else even better…. Ty