What's the fascination with Julian Edelman?

[Bobs My Uncle]

I think the fascination is simply that the coaching staff believes Edelman can help them when he is out there. Not sure there is anything more to this story!

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Same here. This is the part that doesn't compute for me.

Since when does Belichick put next year's goals ahead of this year's.

What's more likely to me is that he sees a player with a lot of overall value in Edelman, and that's clear that he has that, and that has influenced his standing on the depth chart. Let's not forget we had Sam Aiken as our #2WR in 2009, when the man really didn't see the field as a WR before or since (he's out of the league now, I think).

What is unprecedented is that there is a more viable option available, that was not the case with Aiken.

It could be as simple as limiting Brady's ability to throw to his binky. If the coaching staff sees Edleman as a sufficient sub for WW and wants Brady to spread the ball around a bit more they could be putting him in in order to prevent the offense from being ran through WW. This is just a theory; in no way am I saying this is what's going on, or even it's what I think is going on.

 

[mgteich]

Not getting value this year on a player who will be gone is just plain stupid, especially given the $9.5 that Welker is being paid.

And, of course, you do know that this young developmental player of which you speak has been developing so long that he is also in his contract year.

The logic I can think of is 1) he has earned them through a solid camp and that has continued in trainng since; and, 2) Welker is out of contract after this season and he is the closest thing we have to a young developmental guy who we can phase in, give more reps to and develop.

I think that's both play a part. I don't actually think its an issue with Welker, it's just a simple fact we need to start developing someone now and not later. Sadly for Welker, that means less reps for him.

 

[IllegalContact]

I want to get Salas out there.......I think he can help more than Edelman

eventually, I'd like to see an end to both the edelman and woodhead experiments.....you can't tell me that you can't find better players to fill those spots.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Since when does Belichick put next year's goals ahead of this year's.

The Richard Seymour trade says "hi."

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I want to get Salas out there.......I think he can help more than Edelman

eventually, I'd like to see an end to both the edelman and woodhead experiments.....you can't tell me that you can't find better players to fill those spots.

Almost every player on the team could be upgraded . . . if there wasn't a salary cap.

 

[LasVegasPatsFan]

Get open consistently.

He has been open numerous times, just Brady seems to look his direction last. The 3rd down play in which Brady threw to Gronk who was blanketed by his defender, Edelman was 5 yards in front wide open.

 

[BradyManny]

It could be as simple as limiting Brady's ability to throw to his binky. If the coaching staff sees Edleman as a sufficient sub for WW and wants Brady to spread the ball around a bit more they could be putting him in in order to prevent the offense from being ran through WW. This is just a theory; in no way am I saying this is what's going on, or even it's what I think is going on.

It's possible, but what I'd come back to with that is that you can't argue with production. Or, rather, Wes' production.

I think what's at the core of your argument - that the team is doing some early season tinkering to see what they have - has validity. Maybe the team wants to see if Edelman can follow up his strong camp with strong play in games, and see what they have beyond Welker.

Whatever it is, I can't see how having Welker on the sidelines is good for the team. Conservatively, Wes Welker is one of the five best players on this team. If we're sending out personnel packages that do not include him - and had Hernandez not gone down with an injury, I assure you we would've seen the 22 personnel much more - then the coaching staff oughta reconsider. Wes belongs on the field. If the goal is being as productive as possible and winning games, he should be out there.

I think we'll see a lot more Wes in week 3. If I had to guess, these first two weeks did involve some feeling out and some experimentation. Week 3 vs. Baltimore, we need Welker out there for most of the snaps.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

He has been open numerous times, just Brady seems to look his direction last. The 3rd down play in which Brady threw to Gronk who was blanketed by his defender, Edelman was 5 yards in front wide open.

All QBs miss seeing open receivers. That said, I miss the early 21st century Brady who was less stubbornly fixated on binkie receivers, throwing to the JR Redmonds and crap TEs from Boston just because they were open.

 

[PatsFan2]

He has been open numerous times, just Brady seems to look his direction last. The 3rd down play in which Brady threw to Gronk who was blanketed by his defender, Edelman was 5 yards in front wide open.

Brady is begining to stare down his tagets ie...he is only looking for Gronk! If Brady doesn't mix it up against the Ravens he'll throw 5 picks Sunday Night.:snob:

 

[BradyManny]

He has been open numerous times, just Brady seems to look his direction last. The 3rd down play in which Brady threw to Gronk who was blanketed by his defender, Edelman was 5 yards in front wide open.

I'll have to look at this play again, but I cautious this kind of thinking.

When we see a replay in slow-motion, everybody looks open.

We don't account for the time it takes to make a decision and make a throw. Brady has progressions he needs to go through on each throw. He saw Gronkowski get one on one coverage with the safety in the red zone on a short, high percentage throw, and whichever read in his progression that was (I'm guessing #1), he went with it.

If Rhodes hadn't been holding onto Gronk the entire play, or if the referees actually enforced the rules, it would've been the right decision.

 

[Deus Irae]

It seems as if the Patriots are still figuring out things that should have been figured out in the offseason, and it's being done in a pretty shoddy manner, particularly in comparison to the way this team normally works.

 

[BradyManny]

That, plus they really do need to know what they have in Edelman.

Maybe, but I would argue they don't need to know now. And if they do, the Cardinals are a strong opponent they just underestimated, and they should not have experimented against them. The weakness of that team was clearly covering the middle of the field and practically nobody in the league wreaks havoc in the middle more than Wes.

If Hernandez hadn't gotten hurt, if we went with the 22 personnel all game, Welker might've only had 20-30 snaps. Then we'd really be shaking our heads if our production wasn't up to par. We don't know because we were deprived of arguably our most versatile and dangerous weapon at this point in Hernandez. Obviously, mid-game, there was a lot of figuring out to do. Hoomanawanui had to butcher a few blocks before we realized the 22 wasn't working without Hernandez (or a healthy Fells).

We can say Wes slowed down at the end of the year, but I don't know. The offense evolved, the tight ends got open, and they were destructive. And it's also possible that Wes' outlandishly productive start had something to do with the coverage Aaron and Gronk were seeing.

 

[BradyManny]

I think the fascination is simply that the coaching staff believes Edelman can help them when he is out there. Not sure there is anything more to this story!

It's not always that simple, though. I'm certain Bill Belichick did not believe that Sam Aiken was an ideal #2 outside WR in 2009, and yet he played there most of the season. Sometimes there are other factors that come into play.

I have not accepted the given that you have - that Edelman's presence in there over Welker is due to the coaching staff's belief he will be more productive than Wes in that role. If I accept that given, then it renders the debate moot, sure.

 

[Ring 6]

I really think that plays at least a role in answering the question.

Welker played about 90% of the snaps last year—and his performance started to tail off in the second half of the year, as opposed to every other year he's been here, where he's had no noticeable dropoff, or even improved in the second half.

That, plus they really do need to know what they have in Edelman.

There is no doubt Welker was overworked last year. The 63 snaps he played out of 76 (or whatever it was exactly) is about right. The problem is because Hernandez went down, in addition to Welkers 63 we needed a boatload out of the 3rd WR, and unfortunately that happens to be Edelman who really isn't good enough.
The problem isn't reducing Welkers snaps, that make sense by itself.
The problem is that when Welker is off the field we only have 1 legitimate WR on the roster to put out there.

 

[BradyFTW!]

There is no doubt Welker was overworked last year. The 63 snaps he played out of 76 (or whatever it was exactly) is about right. The problem is because Hernandez went down, in addition to Welkers 63 we needed a boatload out of the 3rd WR, and unfortunately that happens to be Edelman who really isn't good enough.
The problem isn't reducing Welkers snaps, that make sense by itself.
The problem is that when Welker is off the field we only have 1 legitimate WR on the roster to put out there.

I really, really hope that someone is on the phone with Jabar Gaffney right now.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I really think that plays at least a role in answering the question.

Welker played about 90% of the snaps last year—and his performance started to tail off in the second half of the year, as opposed to every other year he's been here, where he's had no noticeable dropoff, or even improved in the second half.

That, plus they really do need to know what they have in Edelman.

Isn't that what training camp and the preseason is for? I'd prefer that the Patriots not lose any more games just trying to figure out what they have in a guy whose ceiling seems pretty clearly defined as a subpar #2 WR.

Welker bailed the Pats' offense out so many times yesterday that it was kind of funny, in a sense. When they needed a big play, he was the one who provided it, almost every time. Edelman can't do that, and will never be able to. Time to abort the experiment - if the Pats are going to start running a lot of 3 WR sets with Hernandez out, then they're going to need a real WR3 on the roster. This is exactly why so many of us hated the Gaffney cut, and unfortunately it only took until week two for it to bite the Pats in the ass.

 

[Ring 6]

I really, really hope that someone is on the phone with Jabar Gaffney right now.

AND Branch.

 

[sieglo]

AND Branch.

And here I am thinking we should be sending a fruit basket to Waters.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The most logical (as in rational not intelligent) explanation is just considering intent (as opposed to possible negative impact) is Josh is forcing Brady to focus on Lloyd and hash it out and insuring he has no alternative but to. That will change this week now that Hernandez is gone unless they are so agenda driven they've lost their collective minds.

Welker is one of the most mentally tough as well as productive players on the planet. But I think internally he has to be churning and that probably explains the drops (in conjunction with rust due to his lack of in game reps since mid August). Because no matter how determined you are to compartmentalize distractions, or how driven you are to overcome them, they are still there. And in this case you're having your nose rubbed in them increasingly. And maintaining the high rode and staying on company message even as the message is patent BS and impacting your livlihood.