Phillip Dorsett is headed for free agency, and there probably won't be a ton of excitement around him. He barely played for New England the second half of last season, with the offense favoring other wideouts. There is, however, some big-play potential there.
Back in 2017, his first year in New England, Dorsett caught only 12 passes, but a third of them (4) went for at least 20 yards. They were using him more as a deep threat then. Fast-forward to 2019, and Dorsett was just 3rd on his own team in percentage of catches going for 20-plus yards. So he was supplanted in that role not only by Josh Gordon but undrafted Jakobi Meyers.
| RECEPTIONS OF 20-PLUS YARDS, 2019 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | 20+ | Pct/20 |
| Breshad Perriman, TB | 36 | 645 | 17.9 | 6 | 15 | 41.7% |
| John Ross, CIN | 28 | 506 | 18.1 | 3 | 10 | 35.7% |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 49 | 1001 | 20.4 | 2 | 17 | 34.7% |
| Mecole Hardman, KC | 26 | 538 | 20.7 | 6 | 9 | 34.6% |
| Jakobi Meyers, NE | 26 | 359 | 13.8 | 0 | 9 | 34.6% |
| Kenny Golladay, DET | 65 | 1190 | 18.3 | 11 | 22 | 33.8% |
| Stefon Diggs, MIN | 63 | 1130 | 17.9 | 6 | 20 | 31.7% |
| Deebo Samuel, SF | 57 | 802 | 14.1 | 3 | 17 | 29.8% |
| Josh Gordon, NE-Sea | 27 | 426 | 15.8 | 1 | 8 | 29.6% |
| James Washington, PIT | 44 | 735 | 16.7 | 3 | 13 | 29.5% |
| DeVante Parker, MIA | 72 | 1202 | 16.7 | 9 | 21 | 29.2% |
| Chris Godwin, TB | 86 | 1333 | 15.5 | 9 | 25 | 29.1% |
| A.J. Brown, TEN | 52 | 1051 | 20.2 | 8 | 15 | 28.8% |
| Tyrell Williams, OAK | 42 | 651 | 15.5 | 6 | 12 | 28.6% |
| Chris Conley, JAX | 47 | 775 | 16.5 | 5 | 13 | 27.7% |
| Michael Gallup, DAL | 66 | 1107 | 16.8 | 6 | 18 | 27.3% |
| Randall Cobb, DAL | 55 | 828 | 15.1 | 3 | 15 | 27.3% |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling, GB | 26 | 452 | 17.4 | 2 | 7 | 26.9% |
| Zach Pascal, IND | 41 | 607 | 14.8 | 5 | 11 | 26.8% |
| Adam Thielen, MIN | 30 | 418 | 13.9 | 6 | 8 | 26.7% |
| Kelvin Harmon, WAS | 30 | 365 | 12.2 | 0 | 8 | 26.7% |
| Terry McLaurin, WAS | 58 | 919 | 15.8 | 7 | 15 | 25.9% |
| Mike Evans, TB | 67 | 1157 | 17.3 | 8 | 17 | 25.4% |
| Courtland Sutton, DEN | 72 | 1112 | 15.4 | 6 | 18 | 25.0% |
| Darius Slayton, NYG | 48 | 740 | 15.4 | 8 | 12 | 25.0% |
| Robby Anderson, NYJ | 52 | 779 | 15.0 | 5 | 13 | 25.0% |
| Jarvis Landry, CLE | 83 | 1174 | 14.1 | 6 | 20 | 24.1% |
| John Brown, BUF | 72 | 1060 | 14.7 | 6 | 17 | 23.6% |
| Ted Ginn, NO | 30 | 421 | 14.0 | 2 | 7 | 23.3% |
| D.J. Chark, JAX | 73 | 1008 | 13.8 | 8 | 17 | 23.3% |
| Corey Davis, TEN | 43 | 601 | 14.0 | 2 | 10 | 23.3% |
| Kenny Stills, HOU | 40 | 561 | 14.0 | 4 | 9 | 22.5% |
| DK Metcalf, SEA | 58 | 900 | 15.5 | 7 | 13 | 22.4% |
| Cooper Kupp, LAR | 94 | 1161 | 12.4 | 10 | 21 | 22.3% |
| Demarcus Robinson, KC | 32 | 449 | 14.0 | 4 | 7 | 21.9% |
| Odell Beckham, CLE | 74 | 1035 | 14.0 | 4 | 16 | 21.6% |
| Amari Cooper, DAL | 79 | 1189 | 15.1 | 8 | 17 | 21.5% |
| Brandin Cooks, LAR | 42 | 583 | 13.9 | 2 | 9 | 21.4% |
| Julio Jones, ATL | 99 | 1394 | 14.1 | 6 | 21 | 21.2% |
| Anthony Miller, CHI | 52 | 656 | 12.6 | 2 | 11 | 21.2% |
| Phillip Dorsett, NE | 29 | 397 | 13.7 | 5 | 6 | 20.7% |
| Will Fuller, HOU | 49 | 670 | 13.7 | 3 | 10 | 20.4% |
| Golden Tate, NYG | 49 | 676 | 13.8 | 6 | 10 | 20.4% |
| Auden Tate, CIN | 40 | 575 | 14.4 | 1 | 8 | 20.0% |
| Marvin Jones, DET | 62 | 779 | 12.6 | 9 | 12 | 19.4% |
| Calvin Ridley, ATL | 63 | 866 | 13.7 | 7 | 12 | 19.0% |
| Tyreek Hill, KC | 58 | 860 | 14.8 | 7 | 11 | 19.0% |
| Preston Williams, MIA | 32 | 428 | 13.4 | 3 | 6 | 18.8% |
| Tyler Lockett, SEA | 82 | 1057 | 12.9 | 8 | 15 | 18.3% |
| Marquise Brown, BAL | 46 | 584 | 12.7 | 7 | 8 | 17.4% |
| Sammy Watkins, KC | 52 | 673 | 12.9 | 3 | 9 | 17.3% |
| Allen Lazard, GB | 35 | 477 | 13.6 | 3 | 6 | 17.1% |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT | 42 | 552 | 13.1 | 3 | 7 | 16.7% |
| Emmanuel Sanders, Den-SF | 66 | 869 | 13.2 | 5 | 11 | 16.7% |
| Pharoh Cooper, ARI | 25 | 243 | 9.7 | 1 | 4 | 16.0% |
| Tajae Sharpe, TEN | 25 | 329 | 13.2 | 4 | 4 | 16.0% |
| Robert Woods, LAR | 90 | 1134 | 12.6 | 2 | 14 | 15.6% |
| DeAndre Hopkins, HOU | 104 | 1165 | 11.2 | 7 | 16 | 15.4% |
| Allen Robinson, CHI | 98 | 1147 | 11.7 | 7 | 15 | 15.3% |
| Dede Westbrook, JAX | 66 | 660 | 10.0 | 3 | 10 | 15.2% |
Table shows all players for whom at least 15 percent of their receptions went for over 20 yards. Dorsett made even less of an impact in that regard in 2018; only 1 of his 32 catches went for over 20 yards. Seems like New England wanted to use him differently, or maybe didn't trust him on those deeper routes.
A year ago Dorsett wanted to return to New England, but says he's now ready to move on. Understandable, since it's not exactly clear why he fell out of favor in the offense. It wasn't drops, since Dorsett didn't drop any of the 29 catchable balls sent his way. Of all the players with at least 25 catchable targets last year (there were 187 of them), only 13 didn't drop any.
He won't be a big ticket item in free agency, but sometimes it's the lower-priced guys who end up being the best finds. I could see Dorsett going to a team like Seattle or Baltimore and maybe coming into some value next season. More than he's had in New England the last couple of seasons, anyway.
--Andy Richardson