Aaron Dobson ‘feeling better’

New England Patriots second-year wide receiver Aaron Dobson looks poised for a breakout season after showing promising flashes as a raw rookie out of Marshall. He started the year on a poor note, dropping a high amount of passes and running some terrible routes that led to frustrating incompletions. But as the year went on, Dobson started to grasp things quickly and had six straight solid performances from Week 5 to Week 11 before injuring his left foot. The stress fracture caused the rest of his season to be a lost cause, but his mid-season form has made plenty of people believers in his ability to be an impact No. 1 receiver for Tom Brady.

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There’s no doubt that the Patriots need to have a true No. 1 guy on the outside, and the Pats drafted Dobson in the second round in 2013 with that in mind. His size, catch radius, athleticism, ball skills, and vertical ability stand out, and he showed all of those traits last season by averaging 14 yards per reception and scoring four touchdowns (one touchdown for every three games).

Dobson needed to undergo surgery as a result of his stress fracture, and his initial timetable had him at a mid-May or mid-June return. According to MassLive.com’s Nick Underhill, it’s still unclear how far along Dobson is in his recovery since he doesn’t know how much work he’s been able to put in at OTAs, but Underhill reports that Dobson is “feeling better”. That’s good news, and all eyes will be peeled on Dobson’s offseason given his upside. He has big breakout potential, and hopefully he doesn’t suffer any nagging injuries in 2014.