Ever since the Jets picked up Greg Dortch, there has been plenty of talk about the undrafted rookie free agent’s likely chances of impacting the team. Well, fans saw what all the fuss was about on Thursday night.
Dortch played as advertised in his first preseason game against the Giants. The Jets lost, 31-22, but Dortch won big with his performance against Big Blue.
Dortch made his presence known on both offense and special teams. He had four catches for 20 yards and a touchdown as a receiver. As a returner, the speedster fielded three punts for 42 yards, including a 32-yard return. After the game, Adam Gase was impressed with what he saw from the young returner.
“Obviously you can see he is fearless,” Gase said. “He’s going to stick his face in the fan and usually make somebody miss and get vertical. If we have any kind of crease, he is going to get as many yards as he can.”
The rookie out of Wake Forest is expected to be the Jets No. 1 punt returner this season in addition to being a backup receiver. At Wake Forest, Dortch had 438 punt return yards and two touchdowns and was named as an All-American as a return man.
Dortch also returned kickoffs in college, but the Jets don’t have him listed on their depth chart as a kick returner. At the moment, Trenton Cannon is the No. 1 option there, but don’t be surprised if Dortch gets some play there as well.
The Jets were widely criticized for letting Andre Roberts go in the offseason, but if Dortch continues his strong training camp and preseason, no one is going to remember Roberts.
