On the day of the finalization of every NFL team’s 53-man roster, New England blindsided the football community by trading their third string quarterback Jacoby Brissett to the Colts in exchange for a former first-rounder in Phillip Dorsett. Every team makes either a surprise trade, cut or both on this wonderful day in sports, but I think we can all safely say that we didn’t necessarily expect this one. Both Brissett and Dorsett were on their team’s respective bubble over the last month or so, though.
First and foremost, many may think that this move ends the Patriots’ quarterback controversy, or soon-to-be quarterback controversy and suggests that Jimmy Garoppolo is officially the future of the New England Patriots when Tom Brady does call it quits. Personally, I don’t exactly believe that to be true. Just because New England traded their third-stringer doesn’t mean that their future is set. Brady just turned forty years old and Garoppolo will hit free agency after this season; the controversy is far from over, and I mean far from over. It’d probably be a stretch to say that only God knows what the future holds when it comes to the Pats’ quarterback situation. This is a situation that this team hasn’t had to deal with in sixteen years. Anything is possible.
The Patriots absolutely did the right thing and traded a young quarterback while his value is still high, in return for an explosive wide receiver, which New England needed sooner rather than later. They opted to seek immediate help over long-term quarterback help and utterly fleeced the Colts of all teams in the process. How beautiful is that? I’m sure many believed that Brissett was the heir apparent to Brady, but you can’t look at this trade as a Patriots fan and be upset. Look at it this way. Would you rather keep three quarterbacks on this roster over getting receiver/returner help when you need it the most? You most likely answered “no”. In case you’ve lived under a rock for the past sixteen-plus years, it would be wise to put all of your faith in Bill Belichick. Just a suggestion.
Now that I got that out of my system, on to the player acquired: Phillip Dorsett. Dorsett is a 5’10”, 185-pound, 2015 first-rounder out of the University of Miami. In his time at college, Dorsett totaled 121 receptions for 2,132 yards and 17 touchdowns, and averaged a whopping 22.3 yards per catch in his final two seasons. He was one of the fastest 2015 draft prospects with a 4.33 40-yard dash.
As for his time in Indianapolis, I won’t surgarcoat it, he’s been a bust. Dorsett has played in 26 NFL games, starting only seven of them. He’s caught 53 passes for 753 yards and 3 touchdowns, being severely underused by the Colts as they have recently opted for 2-tight end schemes. I’m no expert, but refusing to play your first-round pick seems a bit odd to me. Out of any of the 31 teams Dorsett could have landed with, he could not possibly be more thrilled to end up where he did. For obvious reasons, but we all know quite well that more often than not, the Patriots turn rival teams’ trash into their own treasure. Plus, going from Scott Tolzien to Tom Brady is seemingly a great day. New England doesn’t just trade for players willy nilly, so you can bet that they already have a plan in place for this kid.
How Dorsett will be used, we have yet to find out, but you can bet that the Patriots will at least test him out in the punt and kick returning department. Dorsett has only returned two punts and one kick in his NFL career, getting most of that work in back in his college days. New England will most likely heavily explore this option as they’re in pretty desperate need of some returners, thanks to torn ACLs to both Julian Edelman and Cyrus Jones. Dorsett will surely have to gain the team’s trust in returning punts seeing that it’s been a while since he’s done so in any setting.
Now, if Dorsett isn’t primarily utilized in that role, he will only add to the Patriots’ deep threat ability. Toss in this speedster along with a healthy Rob Gronkowski, Chris Hogan and Brandin Cooks, and you’re giving opposing defenses nightmares on top of their pre-existing nightmares. With this particular pickup, one can surmise that New England wants to vertically stretch the field even more this season. Hogan alone did major damage down the field plus a bit of Gronk thrown in there, too, just imagine what will happen with those two plus the three offseason additions. Oh, my.
While we’re on the topic, it may or may not be a coincidence that Cooks and Dorsett are eerily similar:
Cooks: 5’10”, 189 pounds, 30 ¾ arms, 9 ⅝ hands, 4.33 40-yard, 6.76 3-cone, 36” vertical
Dorsett: 5’10”, 185 pounds, 30 ¼ arms, 9 ⅜ hands, 4.33 40-yard, 6.70 3-cone, 37” vertical
Throw in the fact that they’re both blazing fast deep threats who were irrationally despised by their previous teams and are set to have big years with their new team, these two are basically twins. If everything pans out, Cooks and Dorsett will give the opponent hell on the outside this year. When teams start to get cocky and clog the middle of the field, the Patriots will casually throw them out there and leave the defense’s collective heads spinning. Hopefully not literally, though. No more CTE, please.
With Malcolm Mitchell currently on the mend with a knee injury that occurred early on in the preseason plus missing some training camp time, Dorsett may get lots of early looks while Mitchell recovers. If the Patriots hadn’t picked up Dorsett, they’d be kind of forced to rush back the second-year receiver, which is never a good idea, especially because this kid is absolutely the real deal and is coming back from an aforementioned knee injury. This gives him extra time to fully heal up and it also gives the team time to really find out what they have in Dorsett, both great scenarios.
New England’s wide receiver depth currently looks like: Cooks, Hogan, Amendola, Mitchell and now Dorsett, so Dorsett will certainly see some important snaps out of the gate. This gives the Patriots insurance both now and down the road later on this season, if necessary.
Comments