Edelman to Defense?

pdangle said:

How the heck could BB dump a guy that plays PR. WR, DB and KR all at replacement level or better. It's incomprehensible.

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Look, I respect the Edelperson's efforts on the football field, particularly his toughness on defense last year but he just isn't that good on defense or as a kick returner. As a WR he's only had something like 8 catches over that past two years.

I don't think you can cut the guy because there is no one on the roster who can return punts like him (except Welker but they shouldn't make him risk injury) but I think people overrate his versatility. IMO it's not incomprehensible that they could cut him.

With DBs and WRs especially, The Pats always value ST contributions. You can have a better pure WR cut if you have too many that can't help in other ways.

Welker, Lloyd, Branch, Gaffney, Gonzalez, Ochocinco, Edelman, Slater (Still a WR?), Underwood, the rookies... who doesn't play Special Teams?

Branch and Ocho don't. Do Lloyd, Gonzalez or Gaffney? I honestly don't know.

So if the two high-level requirements are 'be a good WR' and contribute on special teams and/or more'. Given that, I think the bubble WRs going into camp are Branch, Ocho, Gonzalez, Underwood, the rookies and Edelman. With Branch and Edelman being the stronger contenders for a spot.

Welker, Lloyd and Gaffney are the only locks, but anything can happen...

Ocho wont be in the team, lets hope. Gonzalesshould be packing now with Gaffney signing.

If Mc Courty is 100%, let him KR.

I agree with some of the other guys here. I like the guy a lot, but I honestly think he might be in danger of losing a spot because of how deep the roster is right now. He was very pedestrian outside of special teams.

I think Edelman makes the roster because of:

• Punt returns
• The fact that none of the rest of the likely WRs are really Welker backups (unless Gonzalez beats him out).
• The desirability of extra DB depth given the uncertainty after the top 4-5 guys.

And in another thread I posted a roster configuration that looked reasonable to me and featured Slater, Edelman, 5 other WRs, White, and one of Koutivides/Tarpinian.

This will all be a moot point when a roster spot opens after Ras-I Dowling tears two hamstings and a groin during OTAs and goes on IR. Yeah, I said it.

Unless Welker gets injured/traded, Edelman has no use on offense. Definitely more valuable as a backup CB/hopefully S this year, especially with all the WR's we have now. Would be hard to list him or Slater at WR.

Once again most here make the unstated assumption that the many contending older players can still play close to their prime and that this summer unlike any other, there are no injuries. The training camp survivors will be on the 53. It's what camp is for.

The OP has a good point. Let's see if Edes gets more time at D this summer. Don't understand why folks think that just drafted rookies would by definition get placed ahead of a vet, although we all hope that the rooks blow our socks off with gem like play.

He's a better tackler than he is a receiver, I'll give him that much. The ONLY thing he has going for him is that he is barely adequate at multiple positions. He is not nor will he ever be capable of one half of what Welker can do as a WR. He is NOT a Welker replacement. Not even close.

If the Patriots were a mechanics tool chest, Edleman would be the equivalent of the duct tape in the back corner in the bottom drawer.

I appreciate the constructive discussion guys, thanks! I like Eldelman a lot and clearly so does BB so I think they find somewhere for him on this squad.

That said, will Ebner start taking back punts?

Nate Ebner Ohio State 7's - YouTube

Sporin said:

Just wondering, with all the depth at WR now, and his versatility and punt return skills a big benefit, is this the year he plays defense primarily?

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I firmly believe that has been Bill Belichick intention for sometime, now, else he would not have signed Gonzalez, a former First round pick who was drafted as a slot WR, by the Colts.

Edelman makes the team as a PR. With the accomplished crowd at WR, I think Edelman's future is at Safety. He may well be the fifth Safety the team carries, doubling as a PR, and emergency slot WR, while he learns more of the job. I also firmly believe he has the size, talent, smarts, and tenacity to eventually make a pretty good Safety.

AzPatsFan said:

I firmly believe that has been Bill Belichick intention for sometime, now, else he would not have signed Gonzalez, a former First round pick who was drafted as a slot WR, by the Colts.

Edelman makes the team as a PR. With the accomplished crowd at WR, I think Edelman's future is at Safety. He may well be the fifth Safety the team carries, doubling as a PR, and emergency slot WR, while he learns more of the job. I also firmly believe he has the size, talent, smarts, and tenacity to eventually make a pretty good Safety.

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The Jewish Jim Leonhard?

Edelman is a complete mystery to me. I wouldn't be surprised if he's cut or plays meaningful snaps on both sides of the ball all year. He may have the vaunted versatility label but is he actually good at any position? I really don't know, I suspect it's a big camp for him unless Belichick has already fallen in love

TyronePoole said:

Edelman is a complete mystery to me. I wouldn't be surprised if he's cut or plays meaningful snaps on both sides of the ball all year. He may have the vaunted versatility label but is he actually good at any position? I really don't know, I suspect it's a big camp for him unless Belichick has already fallen in love

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"Value" means paying a JAG half a mil to do a mediocre job playing 4 positions, instead of paying a star 5 mil to do an excellent job playing 1 position.

NEP4Life said:

The Jewish Jim Leonhard?

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Has anyone confirmed that he's definitely Jewish?

Reckedtrek said:

If the Patriots were a mechanics tool chest, Edleman would be the equivalent of the duct tape in the back corner in the bottom drawer.

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Edddsactly! You gotta keep the duct tape!

If you were to drop the E, you'd need to pick up 2 or 3 more tools to fill in. And you can only fit so many in your tool box. So you lose, say, a dominant special teams guy here so you can add a marginally better #5 WR there. And then maybe you need to swap your backup big nickle safety here for a better KR (for what 5yds the three non-touchbacks a game) there. Lastly you decide to leave home that would be rested sub rusher so we can add that backup CB in case injuries hit during the game. Finally you'll have to let Welker or scramble to find someone else to effectively double duty and take punts instead of that top guy in the league. It's not like E plays 4 optional positions. If you replace one, you gotta replace EVERY one of them. I think people think, hey we can upgrade if we get that great rookie KR burner or whatnot, then you realize you'd then need two or three players to replace his other duties.

I don't see how he makes the roster, Let Vereen handle returns. Edelman isn't a WR for us (only 4 catches last season) and he helped at DB but was terrible.

Cut him loose.

Simply put, Edelman is the primary punt returner, and an emergency back-up to large fractions of the total roster (DB, WR, perhaps even RB and QB, and of course he can contribute at speed positions on STs as well).

Leemo said:

I don't see how he makes the roster, Let Vereen handle returns. Edelman isn't a WR for us (only 4 catches last season) and he helped at DB but was terrible.

Cut him loose.

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In my view, Edelman is a pretty accomplished punt returner. I also consider him a more valuable player than seemingly many others do. I think he's one of the surest tacklers on the team, can play multiple positions and is reliable in most situations. I've seen Edelman return punts on more than one occasion for TDs. While I haven't seen Vereen return punts, I think it's a stretch to suggest that such a critical role should simply be handed over to him. I'm not sure why, but I believe Edelman and his contributions are significantly underrated and overlooked by lots of people. Fortunately, none of them seem to be the ones making the personnel decisions. That may change, but we'll have to wait and see. My money says he's on the final 53 when all is said and done, but I've been wrong before.

Not sure if Edleman ends up on D but IMO there is no way he gets cut. BB loves versatile players and he provides depth at a few positions (some obviously better than others).