Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelman?

[Matthew Jones]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

I would be very surprised if Julian Edelman was left off of the final 53-man roster. He's a great punt returner, developing as a slot receiver, and played defensive back in a pinch last year. Demps was also more of a kick returner than punt returner in college.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

KR and PR are two different skills. The only current guy who has both was/is Devon Hester.

PR needs the ability to make the first guy miss, and be shifty, have vision, and better than average speed. Like the classic definition of a juking HB.

The other KR, needs fast acceleration, a burst, great speed and of course vision.

Demps as KR, & Edelmen, as PR, compliment each other; and are not really competitors.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

KR and PR are two different skills. The only current guy who has both was/is Devon Hester.

PR needs the ability to make the first guy miss, and be shifty, have vision, and better than average speed. Like the classic definition of a juking HB.

The other KR, needs fast acceleration, a burst, great speed and of course vision.

Demps as KR, & Edelmen, as PR, compliment each other; and are not really competitors.

Patrick Peterson?

FWIW, Trindon Holliday had an 87 yard punt return yesterday to go with his 90 yard kickoff return the week before:

NFL Network: Holliday 87-yd punt return score

Trindon Holliday 90 yard Kickoff Return Touchdown vs. Carolina Panthers 2012 (SD) - YouTube

It's only 2 plays, but still ...

 

[The Gr8est]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Patrick Peterson?

FWIW, Trindon Holliday had an 87 yard punt return yesterday to go with his 90 yard kickoff return the week before:

NFL Network: Holliday 87-yd punt return score

Trindon Holliday 90 yard Kickoff Return Touchdown vs. Carolina Panthers 2012 (SD) - YouTube

It's only 2 plays, but still ...

And if the Pats meet the Texans in the playoffs, THAT is why we are so lucky to have a gr8 punter with gr8 hang time; to keep things like this from happening.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Patrick Peterson?

FWIW, Trindon Holliday had an 87 yard punt return yesterday to go with his 90 yard kickoff return the week before:

NFL Network: Holliday 87-yd punt return score

Trindon Holliday 90 yard Kickoff Return Touchdown vs. Carolina Panthers 2012 (SD) - YouTube

It's only 2 plays, but still ...

I think of Patrick Petersonas a talented CB first, and then only as a combination KR/PR. But you ae correct. He does both.

I've never seen Triton play...

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Could this mean the end for Edelman? Absolutely.

Kevin Faulk did both KR and PR for the Patriots. Troy Brown did both for the Patriots. Welker did both for Miami. I think people are overthinking the differences between the two roles. Guys like Hester, Washington, etc... do it around the league today.

Will it mean the end for Edelman? I still have Edelman making the team, but don't have him at 95% likely anymore.

 

[BananaRepublican]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Could this mean the end for Edelman? Absolutely.

I see some say Edleman, some say Woodhead, some say Larsen, some say Stallworth. It's an interesting year. We're getting tremendous entertainment value out of this deal.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

I see some say Edleman, some say Woodhead, some say Larsen, some say Stallworth. It's an interesting year. We're getting tremendous entertainment value out of this deal.

Yeah, I said it on another thread. Demps making the team would bump someone, but we'll likely never know who. Given his theoretical positions (WR/RB/ST), I'd start with those areas, but it's not likely that BB's ever going to walk up to the podium and say anything like

"Well, for those of you wondering why we cut ________, it came down to him and Demps, and we need the KR."

 

[BananaRepublican]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

"In 2010, Edelman set a franchise record for the highest punt return average in a single-season with a 15.3-yard average, which led the AFC and finished second in the NFL behind Chicago's Devin Hester."

It was quite an accomplishment and it could really help out this year if he were to duplicate that.

It will be fun to see if Demps can return punts too. If Demps could handle all the return duties without making the coaches nervous then maybe it is possible that Julian would be the odd man out. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen but I have NO IDEA how or why come final cut. I mean 53 sounds like an awfully tiny number to me right now.

 

[Kay Mad]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Just my 2 cents but I see Demps more as a threat to slater than edelman.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Patrick Peterson?

FWIW, Trindon Holliday had an 87 yard punt return yesterday to go with his 90 yard kickoff return the week before:

NFL Network: Holliday 87-yd punt return score

Trindon Holliday 90 yard Kickoff Return Touchdown vs. Carolina Panthers 2012 (SD) - YouTube

It's only 2 plays, but still ...

Holliday had a lot more experience in college. 73 KR and 43 PR in college as that was what he primarily did. Demps in 4 years had 10 KO and 2 PR. Holliday is also 26 and he didn't do well out of the gate. Landed on IR his draft year, cut and bounced around between roster and PS last season. Demps would appear to have more potential as a RB/WR. Just not sure everyone should be penciling him in on the 53 let alone blithely cutting productive players to facilitate that just yet. Caserio stated that the return game schemes are a lot different then whatever they experienced in college. Not to mention this kid is in track and field and not football shape and that's one of Bill's issues with the combine.

 

[Joker]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Not to mention this kid is in track and field and not football shape and that's one of Bill's issues with the combine.

If Demps is working out regularly, he's doing plyometrics and working on his acceleration over 15 -20 yards to be ready to perform on an NFL level..I don't think he's just sitting there idly passing the time. His upper body strength should be fine considering he just performed in the Olympics.

as far as who gets cut I can't stop looking right at Stallworth...

 

[Patriot Missile]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

If Demps is working out regularly, he's doing plyometrics and working on his acceleration over 15 -20 yards to be ready to perform on an NFL level..I don't think he's just sitting there idly passing the time. His upper body strength should be fine considering he just performed in the Olympics.

as far as who gets cut I can't stop looking right at Stallworth...

This is when I wouldn't envy being a professional coach. Must be hard to cut guys who have came into camp,worked their tails off and did everything you asked. If it does come to Stallworth being cut that will be a tough one.

Personally I wouldn't though. All the same, any receiver you cut at this point has some kind of value to the Pats

 

[supafly]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

He's actually done it four times—the two that count, once against the Iggles in the preseason as a rookie, and once in the Chicago snow game (that one got called back on a ticky-tack penalty).

You know, I originally typed some of that, as I remembered at least 3, if not 4, but then I figured that to be 'fair' to the discussion I would only include the 2 that counted in the seasonal stats.

Thank you for pointing that out though, as it is an important point.

 

[supafly]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

Just my 2 cents but I see Demps more as a threat to slater than edelman.

A couple of years ago I was fully on board with you, and I underestimated Slater's importance to the team when projecting the 2010 and maybe even the 2011 rosters.

Now though, at this point, Slater is nowhere near a threat to be left off the roster, and to be honest I doubt that he was a candidate to be cut in the previous 2 yrs before that too.

He made the probowl last year and is probably the best gunner in the entire NFL right now. Belichick is a coach who really supports great ST play, and a guy like that is needed 100% on this team.

Slater is not in danger of being cut, nor is Demps a threat to him. That is due to the huge differences in their ST abilities.

 

[spacecrime]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

There is no way Julian Edelman makes this team.

 

[supafly]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

It was quite an accomplishment and it could really help out this year if he were to duplicate that.

It will be fun to see if Demps can return punts too. If Demps could handle all the return duties without making the coaches nervous then maybe it is possible that Julian would be the odd man out. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen but I have NO IDEA how or why come final cut. I mean 53 sounds like an awfully tiny number to me right now.

One variable that we just cannot predict is Bill Belichick's thoughts on whether or not Edelman has a future here in the coming years, and that's a pretty big variable in my opinion.

Although I do not have anything to go off of with this thought, one could certainly make a case for Edelman to take over Welker's role here at a very good deal (personally I do feel as though he will be resigned).

I wouldn't put it past the brilliant coach to grab Edelman on a very team friendly cheaper deal so that he could try to fully utilize his abilities in the same way that he used Welker (not that I am saying that JE can 'be' WWW). Edelman has shown some success in the slot position in the past, and shows many of the same kind of quicker, shifty moves that allow a slot man to excel.

It's at least something to consider, as most are already assuming that Hernandez will be that guy. With his next deal coming up and the possibility of a franchise tag being used much cheaper than a WR, I wouldn't necessarily say that he will automatically be our main slot receiver. One of Hernandez' best traits is the mismatch ability that he brings, and I think you have to consider losing some of that mismatch ability by assuming that he will always take over Welker's role (even though he is lined up in the unconventional formation for a TE sometimes).

It's just one man's opinion, and I am by no means saying that "I am right," but it is certainly something to consider.

 

[supafly]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

There is no way Julian Edelman makes this team.

Elaborate please.

EDIT: If you are being serious. If I missed the sarcasm, then I certainly apologize.

 

[Reckedtrek]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

There is no way Julian Edelman makes this team.

opcorn:

D'oh! This is gonna get interesting!

 

[supafly]

Re: Could The Signing Of Jeff Demps With The Patriots Signal The End For Julian Edelm

opcorn:

D'oh! This is gonna get interesting!

I think that Space may just be teasing.