Fencer
Pro Bowl Player
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Edelman surely seems to have the talent for a Faulk-like RB role. But two questions would need favorable answers before he could actually assume it:
1. Can he take the hits?
2. Can he dish out the hits, specifically on blitz pickup?
Thoughts?
I am on my iPhone, so pulling up the stats isn't easy. However, there are plenty of third down and scat backs with similar builds in the NFL who are successful in that role. However, I don't see Edelman ever being asked to play that role on more than an emergency basis unless he can add adequate blitz pick up to his repetoir. People love to note that Bradys injury occurred while Faulk was suspended.
It isn't impossible for Edelman to be groomed for that role in the future (and frankly I think he could learn it and excell at it like Faulk) but there is no way he gets used there this season except in esoteric packages.
A more realistic possibility is seeing Brady lined up in shotgun with Faulk and Edelman as split backs. But even then I would expect Edelman to immediately go into motion or run a route at the snap.
Auditioning Edelman as the eventual Faulk successor is really what is or should be being asked. He is not a full time runner, just like Faulk and Meggett before him, were not.
Ironically, it should also be easier to ask this question as the scouting on his collegiate career should answer that well, whereas his abilities as a WR were completely unknown, and merely an astute scouting projection.
Plus don't forget that Kevin did not just emerge magically as a great 3rd down runner/receiver/blitz-pickup-blocker. He evolved into that, after several years with Belichick's instruction, while "finding his role". Kevin was a classical, shifty, HB star in the SEC, more quick than fast. He wasn't fast enough in the NFL, and had a tendency to fumble, or have y'all forgotten that too? He also was not called on to blitz-block while setting SEC rushing records, some of which still stand. He had to learn how.
How dangerous as a running QB was Edelman at Kent State? The scouting reports and records should say. I know he already brings a new dimension to the proposed role; he should be dangerous with HB pass option, as a former QB. That is something neither Faulk nor Meggett did.
So who has the Kent State scouting on Edelman?
Edelman surely seems to have the talent for a Faulk-like RB role. But two questions would need favorable answers before he could actually assume it:
1. Can he take the hits?
2. Can he dish out the hits, specifically on blitz pickup?
Thoughts?
He is a perfect wildcat player, with his quartrbacking abilities.
Edelman is an emerging player at an invaluable position on this offense. I could not conceive risking messing that up.
If you want to run him on the occasional gadget play, go for it, but a position switch? Maybe in a different offense , but the slot position is too valuable here.
Not sure I understand the difference between getting tackled while running with the ball during a draw or a swing pass? And we know he can go across the middle, so why say he "might be able to swing out of the backfield for passes"? He has proven without a shadow of a doubt he can.A resounding no to these questions. He simply is not built for it. He might be able to swing out of the backfield for passes and that's about it. If he ever ran a draw play on third down I'd be shocked.