Cardinals’ Aaron Dobson looks to emerge from crowded WR group

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Wide receiver Aaron Dobson was brought in for tryouts when the Cardinals decided to release Michael Floyd after his arrest for super extreme DUI. According to his agent, he had a good workout but wasn’t yet ready to sign.

In 2013, the Patriots selected him in the second round. Then, three years later, New England parted ways with him as part of the final roster cuts.

After the season, the Cardinals signed Dobson to a futures contract.

The wide receiver position is one of the deepest on the current roster, and an interesting wrinkle to watch is how many they keep on the roster entering the season. Last season, five wide receivers were on the 53-man roster at that time.

The latest depth chart for the Cardinals’ top-eight wide receiver group is Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, Jaron Brown, J.J. Nelson, Brittan Golden, Jeremy Ross, Dobson and Chad Williams. Undrafted free agents Krishawn Hogan and Carlton Agudosi could be options for the practice squad.

Dobson (6-foot-3, 201 pounds) looked decent in that aforementioned offseason workout, which has carried over to training camp. Thursday, though, he wasn’t able to finish practice and could be out awhile with a hamstring injury.

That could be very troubling for Dobson because of his competition.

Fitzgerald talked about the wealth of players at wide receiver during the offseason.

“This is the really, legitimately the first time in a long, long time that I can remember that all the guys, even from the draft guys to the undrafted free agents, everybody can play. Everybody,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s no guy that you can say, ‘Oh, he’s a camp body.’ I would say every single guy in our room could play. They can run. They can jump. They got good hands. They have what it takes to be an NFL receiver.”

Palmer addressed the media on Thursday and spoke to the depth on the current roster.

“We have too much (at receiver). Maybe five, maybe six spots will go to receivers depending on special teams,” Palmer said. “There’s seven or eight guys that you like and you want to continue to watch grow, but you just can’t keep eight receivers.”

Dobson is aware of the competition.

“We’re deep, this is one of the deepest rooms I’ve been in across the board so we all can play. How it plays out some guys will get a chance to play in the league,” Dobson said.

With his time spent playing under Bill Belichick, Dobson was asked if he sees any similarities in Arians and Belichick.

“I’m used to it that, I had Bill as a coach so they are very similar. BA (is) a good guy, real hard nose coach, he’s a great coach.”

Sometimes a change of scenery can go a long way and that’s the hope Arizona has with Dobson. Much will depend on how Dobson performs when healthy, but missing any length of time could put on the bubble to make the 53-man roster.

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