With about one month until the 2015 NFL Draft, there are many late-round prospects that may be on the radar of perspective teams. One such potential gem could be speedy Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.
Dorsett—no relation to the Dallas Cowboys Hall-Of-Fame running back, Tony—proverbially raced into the conversation of draft-day prospects to watch due to his unofficial time of 4.33 in the 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. While not being in the same projected draft round tier as fellow wide receivers such as Amari Cooper, Kevin White, DeVante Parker, Jaelen Strong and possibly Devin Smith, Breshad Perriman and Sammie Coates, Dorsett has the potential to be a steal.
In 12 games for the Miami Hurricanes, the 5’10, 183-pound speedster caught 38 passes for 871 yards and ten touchdowns in 2014-15. After missing a majority of his junior year due to a knee injury, Dorsett caught 58 passes for 842 yards and four touchdowns as a sophomore.
Despite playing with in a run-heavy offense that featured Duke Johnson and a freshman quarterback in Brad Kaaya, Dorsett was still able to rank in the top 25 nationally in yards per catch (24.2)
According to Charlie Campbell scouting report at WalterFootball.com, Dorsett’s main strengths are his elite speed, ability to gain separation and has a quick release off the line.
Campbell would go on to say that two of Dorsett’s main weakness is his lack of height and inability to outfight physical NFL corners for the ball and that thanks to his speed and slight body frame, Dorsett compares to newly-acquired Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace in saying.
“Dorsett and Wallace are similar players in that they are deep-threat receivers who are very good at stretching a defense vertically. Both are threats to score on any reception and have elite speed. Dorsett is a more polished route-runner than Wallace was entering the NFL. Dorsett also doesn’t have the attitude issues that Wallace has displayed.”
Thanks to the NFL’s shift to more passing and short and agile receivers such as DeSean Jackson, T.Y. Hilton and the fore-mentioned Wallace being en vogue, Dorsett will not only be able to continue to rise up boards as fast as his 4.3 time at the combine, but be able to make an immediate impact for his new team.