New England Patriots: Phillip Dorsett provides home run potential

The New England Patriots made a very interesting trade, getting Phillip Dorsett from the Indianapolis Colts. He could be a big time home run threat…

The New England Patriots have mastered the art of ‘buying low’ in the NFL trade market. Their recent acquisition of wide receiver Phillip Dorsett from the Indianapolis Colts is no exception there.

The Patriots identified a need at wide receiver with Julian Edelman out for the season, and they merely had to give up third string quarterback Jacoby Brissett to get him.

Advantage: Patriots.

The acquisition of Dorsett is an intriguing one for the Patriots, because while Edelman excels running routes from the slot and making tough catches in the short-intermediate part of the field, Dorsett is an absolute home run hitter in the purest form.

With some of the other moves the Patriots have made this offseason, it stands to reason that the dynamic of the offense in New England is about to change pretty significantly.

Danny Amendola will take Edelman’s place in the slot, primarily, and the Patriots will utilize Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan, and Phillip Dorsett to create opportunities for Amendola to be successful and keep their offense moving at a pace they dictate.

What that means is, the Patriots are going to get Amendola one-on-one opportunities from the slot by using their players with speed and big play abilities, a primary reason they acquired Dorsett.

In 2016, Dorsett was tied for second in the NFL with four catches of 50 yards or more. Cooks and Hogan ranked right behind him with three each. That means the Patriots have more than tripled the number of 50-plus yard plays at the receiver position by adding just two players.

And oh yeah — they get Rob Gronkowski back as well. He’s also capable of stretching defenses deep down the field.

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Tom Brady ranked near the middle of the pack statistically last year on deep passes attempted (passes of 20 or more yards in the air) and some of that had to do with his four-game suspension, but a lot of it had to do with personnel.

The Patriots were not utilizing the deep ball as much last year because they didn’t have the players to execute it with.

Now, they do.

In fact, they now have multiple players that will cause defenses to keep safeties back deep, opening things up in the short-intermediate area of the field for Danny Amendola and Patriots running backs to do work in the passing game.

Dorsett was just recently picked up in a trade, and learning the Josh McDaniels offense is not an overnight process. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he had a minimal role in the game snap-wise versus the Kansas City Chiefs, but like a pinch-hitter in baseball who specializes in hitting home runs, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dorsett come in and try to blow the top off of Kansas City’s defense a time or two.

It’s what he does best.

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