Ranking Edelman among top receivers

What would you say is his place among the elite? Top 5? 10? 15? 20?

If you ask me he's considerably better than Welker in almost every aspect and his durability, attitude or character will never ever be in question.

I would personally put him in the top 15 and just outside top 10 in terms of just WR's and not including TE's. What he does for us and that is with or without Gronk (as has been proven when he was out) is amazing and Brady just leans on him when he wants a bail out or to get rhythm going.

He dropped a ball, so I put him at #200.

Besides being a great teammate and Patriot. On pace to be one of the greatest punt returners in the history of the game. A 100 reception 1000 yard go to receiver. What else is there to say? Oh wait, he is a freaking monster on my fantasy team. Icing on the cake.

He's crazy good. Really underrated too.

I say he is easily top 15. Top 5 slot easily.

Though he needs to fix the recent drops

Top 13-15 maybe*

The obvious ones ahead of him (10): AJ Green, Julio Jones, C Johnson, J Nelson, D Thomas, J Gordon, A Brown, D Bryant, B Marshall, O Beckham (going to be a big star)

You could argue at least 5 of these guys are better, too: Cobb, Sanders, Maclin, Hopkins, M Evans, TY Hilton, S Watkins, V Jackson, D Jackson, G Tate, A Jeffery, K Allen

English Patriot said:

What would you say is his place among the elite? Top 5? 10? 15? 20?

If you ask me he's considerably better than Welker in almost every aspect and his durability, attitude or character will never ever be in question.

I would personally put him in the top 15 and just outside top 10 in terms of just WR's and not including TE's. What he does for us and that is with or without Gronk (as has been proven when he was out) is amazing and Brady just leans on him when he wants a bail out or to get rhythm going.

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I would say he is a top 25 WR in the NFL. However he is probably the best slot WR.

I'd definitely put him in the top 10-15 range. Especially when factoring in his special teams prowess as a returner.

I think people here are overrating him. I love the guy, but there's no way he's a top 15 WR.

Megatron
Julio Jones
AJ Green
Antonio Brown
Jordy Nelson
Josh Gordon
Brandon Marshall
Odell Beckham
Demaryius Thomas
TY Hilton
DeAndre Hopkins
Mike Evans
Vincent Jackson
Alshon Jeffrey
Sammy Watkins
Randall Cobb
Dez Bryant

I would take any of them over Edelman, and wouldn't have to think too hard about it. Then there's a bunch of other guys, like Maclin or Golden Tate, or DeSean Jackson, who I would probably take over Edelman just based on factoring for QB, but it isn't the slam dunk that the above guys are. I'd say he's a fringe top-25 guy at most, which is totally fine because the Pats don't need him to be a top-10 receiver and he isn't paid like one. If you took him off the Pats and gave us someone like Sammy Watkins instead, though, I think it's pretty clear that the offense would be better for it.

When evaluating Edelman vs. other teams' WRs, you just have to account for the fact that Brady's throwing him the ball. Look at how LaFell and Emmanuel Sanders both look *way* better this year than they did at any point in the first 4 years of their careers. That's the affect of playing with an elite QB. Part of what makes Brady the best is he can make fringe top-25 receivers produce like top-10 guys. He's been doing it almost his whole career.

TBR said:

Top 13-15

The obvious ones ahead of him: AJ Green, Julio Jones, C Johnson, J Nelson, D Thomas, J Gordon, A Brown, D Bryant, B Marshall, O Beckham is going to be a big star soon

You could argue at least 5 of these guys are better, too: Cobb, Sanders, Maclin, Hopkins, M Evans, TY Hilton, S Watkins, V Jackson, D Jackson, G Tate, A Jeffery, K Allen

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I wouldn't take half those guys ahead of JE.

rochrist said:

I wouldn't take half those guys ahead of JE.

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Sorry but you're definitely biased

The early part of his career casts doubt on the "durability" praise. I can't think of what he's learned since to make him more durable; rather, it seems like luck or the way he's used.

I think slot receivers actually do more smart turtling than others, while some non-slot guys (but not so much Edelman) may run out of bounds more.

TBR said:

Sorry but you're definitely biased

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The second group is pretty questionable. Watkins is ok, but he's not the second coming of Randy Moss and may not even be the best WR on his team. Desean Jackson? Really? Jeffrey is good, but not clearly better. Mike Evans with 57 catches? I think you're looking more for the shiny hood ornament than someone who is vital in building a team designed to win football games..

rochrist said:

The second group is pretty questionable. Watkins is ok, but he's not the second coming of Randy Moss and may not even be the best WR on his team. Desean Jackson? Really? Jeffrey is good, but not clearly better. Mike Evans with 57 catches? I think you're looking more for the shiny hood ornament than someone who is vital in building a team designed to win football games..

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What's with this excuse I constantly see?

I love Edelman. A lot. But I would easily take Watkins or Mike Evans over him. Their ceiling is far higher.

rochrist said:

The second group is pretty questionable. Watkins is ok, but he's not the second coming of Randy Moss and may not even be the best WR on his team. Desean Jackson? Really? Jeffrey is good, but not clearly better. Mike Evans with 57 catches? I think you're looking more for the shiny hood ornament than someone who is vital in building a team designed to win football games..

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All of those guys are producing right on par with Edelman or better, and all with QBs *way* worse than Brady throwing them the ball. So either those guys are generally better than Edelman, or Brady doesn't make his WRs better than someone like Jay Cutler does. Pick one.

I find it really odd that some people can simultaneously believe that Brady's great partly because because he continues to do more with less than a guy like Manning or Rodgers, then turn around and simultaneously claim that he's working with a top 10-15 WR, another top 40-50 WR (which LaFell is) and the best TE ever (which Gronk is). Both can't be true.

Personally, I think it's pretty clear that the former is true, and the latter isn't. Any of the guys mentioned in the post you quoted would look downright elite if they played for the Pats. You seem to think that DeSean Jackson doesn't even belong in the conversation, but he's put up a 942/5 line so far with Cousins, Griffin, and McCoy at QB in a passing game where he's basically the only threat that defenses have to worry about now that Reed and Garcon have disappeared. If he played for the Pats, he'd be in the conversation for best WR in the NFL, because that's how much better Brady makes his WRs.

Mark12 said:

He's crazy good. Really underrated too.

I say he is easily top 15. Top 5 slot easily.

Though he needs to fix the recent drops

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He isnt a slot receiver. Hes almost always outside.

Minitron,

Really good player. And while I don't think they need a true number one to win championships I can only imagine how explosive they would be if they addedo one to this offense. It c would have to come out of the draft though as buying one would cost them defenders and that isn't worth it.

I'll just say I'm confident to have JE in starting Super Bowl offense ( Not jumpin ahead, just sayin) He's as clutch as they come. Can go short, deep, slants, end arounds not to mention Punt Returning. I'll take'm any day, Brady seems to have no problem lookin for him.

not too sure about the ranking but his talent matched with his desire make him a real value for this team and he is a chain mover, maybe not a real deep threat but drive extenders take their toll on a team later into the 3rd and 4th quarter...not as important as a punishing back that wear defenses down but moving the chains IMO wears 'em out...

I guess I could be a little biased, but I really wouldn't trade him for anybody in the NFL. The guy is a versatile machine. This system relies on him so much. I was calling him "Leatherman" back in the day when many PatsFans wanted him gone. I never understood the logic. The guy is a Pat thru and thru. Welker couldn't sniff his shorts. Edit: Remember when he bailed us out, on defense as well, a few yrs back?

BradyFTW! said:

All of those guys are producing right on par with Edelman or better, and all with QBs *way* worse than Brady throwing them the ball. So either those guys are generally better than Edelman, or Brady doesn't make his WRs better than someone like Jay Cutler does. Pick one.

I find it really odd that some people can simultaneously believe that Brady's great partly because because he continues to do more with less than a guy like Manning or Rodgers, then turn around and simultaneously claim that he's working with a top 10-15 WR, another top 40-50 WR (which LaFell is) and the best TE ever (which Gronk is). Both can't be true.

Personally, I think it's pretty clear that the former is true, and the latter isn't. Any of the guys mentioned in the post you quoted would look downright elite if they played for the Pats. You seem to think that DeSean Jackson doesn't even belong in the conversation, but he's put up a 942/5 line so far with Cousins, Griffin, and McCoy at QB in a passing game where he's basically the only threat that defenses have to worry about now that Reed and Garcon have disappeared. If he played for the Pats, he'd be in the conversation for best WR in the NFL, because that's how much better Brady makes his WRs.

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47 catches is not producing 'on a par or better than JE'.

An awful lot of WRs have come through here and been unable to handle this offense. Chad? Galloway? You have no idea how any of those guys would do in this offense. Brady /doesn't/ automatically make every WR better. Watkins is soft. How do you suppose he'd do at punt returner? How about at DB?

JE has 1360 yards for the Pats so far this year. He'll end up with close to 1600. Desean Jackson is projected to finish with aroun 1150.