WR Aaron Dobson

Aaron Dobson

Dobson was hurt earlier in the season, but his recent foot injury is his most prominent ailment, forcing him to miss this past week's game against the Browns.

(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

(AP)

You've probably already heard this story, maybe even during a New England Patriots broadcast earlier this season.

In late March, a list of college wide receivers with the fewest drops the previous season began to circulate on the Internet. Sitting atop that list was a 6-foot-3 Marshall product named Aaron Dobson, who was selected by the Patriots in the second round.

According to that list, compiled by STATS LLC, Dobson was targeted 92 times during his senior season and never dropped a pass. This statistic is not true, of course. It is not known how many passes Dobson dropped last year, but a quick look at his game against the University of Central Florida reveals he dropped at least two.

Depending on your view of things, that should be taken as good news, or there would have likely been a great deal of panic during New England's organized team activities when Dobson struggled to hold on to the ball, and again during the early portion of the regular season.

But after a rough start that saw Dobson drop four passes in his first two games, he tightened up and finished with nine on 74 targets. That number was likely too high for both Dobson and the team, but the reaction from fans may not fit the crime.

While not all drops are created equal, a look at the numbers reveals tight end Aaron Hernandez dropped nine of the 64 passes thrown his direction during his rookie season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Again, each pass has a different set of circumstances, so pulling up numbers is an imperfect practice, but it at least shows some of Dobson's struggles are not abnormal.

When these numbers were recently shared on Twitter, some fans argued Dobson's drops should be categorized differently because, many times, the ball simply fell out of his hands. To see if this was true, we took a look back at each of the nine drops.

1. Week 2 against the Jets, pass on the sideline: There are no excuses to be made for this one. Dobson ran an out to the left, got open and simply let the ball go through his hands. Cornerback Dee Milliner was on his back and the pass caused Dobson to leave his feet, but the catch should have been made.

2. Week 2 against the Jets, deep pass down the right sideline: This one was tough. Dobson got open and was in position to make a play – and would have if the pass had arrived a few inches shorter. But as it was, the rookie had to stretch to get his fingertips on the ball. He managed to pull it in to where he could make a play, but he lost his balance and fell. The ball came loose as he rolled on the turf.

3. Week 2 vs. Jets, pass on the sideline: In what was a common theme early in the season, Dobson failed to corral a back-shoulder catch. He and quarterback Tom Brady struggled with this connection until finally hooking up for a touchdown during a Week 9 game against the Steelers. On this one, Dobson let the ball go through his hands with Darrin Walls in coverage.

4. Week 3 vs. Buccaneers, pass over the middle: This one gets scored as a drop, and Dobson should have made the play, but Brady didn't make it easy. The pass was thrown behind Dobson, which caused him to stop his route and lunge upfield to make a play on the ball.

5. Week 6 vs. Saints, pass to the left: Dobson ran a route over the middle and was wide open. The ball hit him in the hands, but he turned upfield before gaining control. Better concentration would have prevented this inexcusable error.

6. Week 6 vs. Saints, pass over the middle: Dobson attempted a body catch on a short pass and the ball fell to the turf after it hit him in the numbers. A reception likely would have resulted if he extended his arms a bit.

7. Week 7 vs. Jets, pass down the left sideline: Tough to call this one a drop since Milliner provided such good coverage and the pass came in close to Dobson's knees. But he got his hands on the ball and again failed to reel in a back-shoulder pass.

8. Week 9 vs. Steelers, pass down the right sideline: Another back-shoulder botch with tight coverage from William Gay.

9. Week 9 vs. Steelers, pass over the middle: With more tight coverage from Gay, Dobson got his hands on the ball but failed to pull it in. The pass appeared to come in behind him.

Every one of these plays could have resulted in a catch. But upon review, three were inexcusable, three were back-shoulder passes – with which Dobson struggled – and two others were the result of iffy throws.

It's hard to put much blame on Dobson for the deep pass against the Jets, since it would have taken an incredible effort to make the play. A couple of the back-shoulder passes, however, could possibly be placed in the inexcusable category.

After watching all of them, there's no question Dobson could improve in some areas, but only a few of the drops were the result of an egregious error.