Teammate on Phillip Dorsett: 'He's ready. He's arrived.'

At first Mike Adams wasn't buying. Fast? That's all anyone talked about with this kid. He's fast. Really fast. But Adams knows fast. He's been an NFL safety for 11 years. He practices against T.Y. Hilton every day. This kid, this rookie out of Miami, that everyone was gushing over? Nothing special, Adams figured. Nothing he hadn't seen before.

"When I first saw him on tape, I was like, 'No, he's not that fast,'" Adams said. "I honestly said that."

Then he saw Phillip Dorsett run through a drill at practice. Then he changed his mind.

"I was like…" Adams says. Then he tells you turn off your recorder.

"When I saw him open up, I said, '(Expletive)!' "

Now Adams buys it. Now he sees the Colts' first-round pick churning out that jaw-dropping, 4.2 speed every day in training camp. It's what makes Phillip Dorsett another tantalizing talent in an already well-stocked offensive cupboard. As Dorsett likes to say, you can't teach speed.

A sobering reminder: Dorsett is just a week into his NFL career. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

But talent is talent. All the wide receiver out of Miami has done since arriving in May as the Colts' somewhat-stunning first-round pick (defensive line, anyone?) is impress. He impressed in rookie camp. He impressed in minicamp. Now he's impressing in training camp.

Much like the University of Miami brethren he worked out with in the offseason, Andre Johnson and Frank Gore, Dorsett is a man of few words. (Wise move, rookie.) His play speaks louder. His speed speaks louder. He has future star written all over him.

"You have to really focus on him to see him," Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton says of Dorsett. "Because a lot of times he's running so fast it's hard to keep up with."

Take Saturday afternoon. After slipping past cornerback D'Joun Smith and safety Dwight Lowery, Dorsett swiped a 60-yard bomb from quarterback Andrew Luck out of the sky, hauling in the football just over his shoulder. Colts fans are bound to see one or two — or three or four — of those types of plays this season. Count on it.

Why? It's darn near impossible for a defender to keep Dorsett in front of him.

"He can fly," defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said. "He can take the top off defenses."

Adams knows. He saw that catch.

"The first thing I said was, 'He's ready. He's arrived,' " Adams said.

This is Week 1, remember.

Adding Dorsett's skill set to this Colts' offense — tops in the league last year in passing yards — is akin to a car collector adding a Lamborghini to a garage that already includes a Maserati, a Porsche and two Bentleys. You can never have too many toys, it seems.

But painting Dorsett as T.Y. Hilton 2.0 — both are 5-9, 180-pound South Florida boys who can run like the wind — is ambitious at this stage. Hilton has earned his reputation as one of the league's top wideouts. He's a Pro Bowler with more receiving yards (3,289) in his first three seasons than any player in Colts history. That's more than Marvin Harrison. That's more than Reggie Wayne. That tells you something.

Dorsett, meanwhile, has yet to play an NFL game.

And to hear Adams tell it, there are differences in their game, subtle as they may be. He starts with their speed.

"When T.Y. runs fast, you can see it," Adams said. "When Phillip runs, you can't really see it. It's a smooth fast. It's effortless. It's gliding. The way he gets out of his breaks, it's so smooth. I haven't seen that in a long time. I haven't seen guys run routes like him in a while. I can't even describe it."

Dorsett's speed being what it is — rare — he still has to learn the Colts' playbook. He still has to master the complexities that come with the different receiver positions (a must in Hamilton's system). He considers himself lucky, then, that he was drafted into a wide receiver's room that already included the likes of Andre Johnson (13,597 career yards to his name), Hilton (a budding star) and Donte Moncrief (who is coming off a promising rookie campaign). Dorsett just makes them deeper.

He has listened and he has learned. He takes notes from Hilton ("How to be crafty out there," Dorsett says) and from Johnson ("The way to work.") He'll undoubtedly absorb more as the seasons wear on.

There's also Luck, now more veteran than NFL youngster. Dorsett's good fortune took him from catching passes from a freshman quarterback his senior year at Miami to Indianapolis, home to a three-time Pro Bowler and the QB free agents are drooling to play with.

"Night and day," Dorsett said, comparing the two. "Andrew has total control of the offense. He helps you. Doesn't get on you too hard. If you mess up, he'll correct you and you'll get it right after practice."

So far in training camp Hamilton has lined up Dorsett all over the offense — a peek into just how creative the coordinator might be with his new Lamborghini. While Dorsett's skillset screams slot position (name a linebacker than can keep up with him), the Colts' formations will be so fluid with personnel he could line up in any of three or four spots come Sundays.

What Dorsett must do now, amidst the dog days of training camp, is prove to Luck he knows where to be.

"He's a guy that our quarterback is starting to trust," Hamilton said. "The more and more reps that he gets with Andrew, the more he will be able to contribute in our offense."

It's a slow process for most rookies. Phillip Dorsett just likes doing things faster.


(indystar.com)