Deion Sanders on Julian Edelman...

[PatriotsPimp136]

Edelman and hogan put up some impressive numbers at the combine. Hogan has picked up this offense quickly. I wish floyd had as well. I still hope he's active for the superbowl.

 

[PatriotsReign]

To be fair, I don't know how many people call Edelman a cerebral player (although, like all successful Patriots receivers, he is). They usually go for the "scrappy competitor" card, and I think at least his agility is widely acknowledged. People seem to think he has no straight line speed because he's white though.

He's white, so we call him "Athletic"!

 

[NormZauchin]

The racism card played in the opposite direction. You don't see that very often.

I remember back the late 80's when Isiah Thomas of the Pistons created quite a stir when he said that if Larry Bird were black he would just be considered a good, not great, player.

 

[GodBrady]

Doug Baldwin is virtually Edelman, and he too is often forgotten. Looking at Edelman's stats show that he only scored three tds in the regular season. That is sort of low for an elite wr. All of us Pats fans know how great he is but I can definitely see why everyone else thinks otherwise.

Edelman reminds me a lot of Baldwin. I watch a decent number of Seattle games, and I always marvel at Baldwin. The guy is absolutely nails on third downs, and constantly makes big, timely, clutch catches for them. He also had a huge, 70-yard kick return in the NFCCG against the 49ers in 2013 (again, reminds me of Edelman -- verstatile). I wish we could have him in New England, he would put up otherwordly numbers with Brady.

Another Seattle player I covet is Tyler Lockett. I wish we would have drafted him. The guy is always open, and he's a legitimate deep threat. He's also a premier return guy -- a true impact player as both a KR and a PR. I think he would've turned into an awesome asset for the Patriots. Anyway, it's easy to use hindsight to covet players we wish we would've drafted, so I don't get too caught up on it.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

Edelman has completely dispelled the stigma that he had early on in his years here - that he was unable to stay healthy.

The guy is so valuable partially because he's so available. I'd love to read something about the turnaround. I doubt it's all due to luck and avoiding freak injury.

 

[Nikolai]

Edelman has completely dispelled the stigma that he had early on in his years here - that he was unable to stay healthy.

The guy is so valuable partially because he's so available. I'd love to read something about the turnaround. I doubt it's all due to luck and avoiding freak injury.

It is true that you can condition yourself to reduce the risk of injury. Things like yoga, regular stretching, specific and intelligent workout rotations all are a huge help.

I wish someone would have told me in my youth...I was a "white, athletic" idiot...

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

It is true that you can condition yourself to reduce the risk of injury. Things like yoga, regular stretching, specific and intelligent workout rotations all are a huge help.

I wish someone would have told me in my youth...I was a "white, athletic" idiot...

Right, I know that it's done regularly. I'd like to know whether Edelman made it a priority to avoid injury and, if so, what he did to accomplish his goal - wildly successful.

Don't have time right now to dig into his injury history to see the numbers behind his participation rate increase.

 

[brdmaverick]

Edelman has completely dispelled the stigma that he had early on in his years here - that he was unable to stay healthy.

Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, too. Does one season REALLY dispel the notion that a guy has a hard time staying healthy?

He just takes on so many hits. It shows how extremely tough he is and how much he 'wants it' but sometimes I'd rather see him hit the turf sooner.

 

[JMC00]

Looking at Edelman's stats show that he only scored three tds in the regular season. That is sort of low for an elite wr.

Blount having 18 TDs had a little bit to do with it.

As for elite WR and TDs, Julio Jones had 6 TD this season and has only had more than 8 once in his career. In fact his TD over the last 3 seasons- 6, 8, 6.

 

[SEA_Pat]

Are we sure it's because he is white or is it because he is Jewish?

 

[luuked]

We were 1-4 without Edelman last year.

We are 10-0 without Gronk.

That's a pretty disingenuous comparison. Last year we were not only missing Edelman but a **** ton of players (including Gronk for a while) and had a pretty dysfunctional OL.

Who are we missing this year apart from Gronk ?

 

[qbno12]

Prior to this season Brady relied heavily on Edelman if things were'nt going well during the game. Like many posters here mentioned he was locked on Edelman. Lately, even after Gronk's injury, he seems to rely on Amendola and Hogan a lot too. I think that's very good for us.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Edelman has completely dispelled the stigma that he had early on in his years here - that he was unable to stay healthy.

The guy is so valuable partially because he's so available. I'd love to read something about the turnaround. I doubt it's all due to luck and avoiding freak injury.

If you watch old pat games even some found on youtube, he physically looks different. I was watching something from 2010 and he looked thicker and his arms weren't defined like they are now.

 

[shmessy]

He's really good, especially in big games, but he's really only in the top 10-15 for WRs. We may notice the difference in 2 weeks watching Julio.

Didn't notice it 5 weeks ago watching Brandon Marshall.

Didn't notice it 4 weeks ago watching Jarvis Landry.

Didn't notice it 2 weeks ago watching DeAndre Hopkins.

Didn't notice it last Sunday night watching Antonio Brown.

 

[bormio]

Most everyone around the Pats says that Edelman is one of the hardest workers on the team. He certainly has serious athletic talent, but there have been thousands of players with his natural ability that never amounted to anything. His determination turned him from an also-ran into an elite player. Obviously his most outstanding "talent" is his change of direction ability.

 

[shmessy]

Most everyone around the Pats says that Edelman is one of the hardest workers on the team. He certainly has serious athletic talent, but there have been thousands of players with his natural ability that never amounted to anything. His determination turned him from an also-ran into an elite player. Obviously his most outstanding "talent" is his change of direction ability.

After the seeing the documentary piece about his father who loves him very much, but drove him very hard, it's easy to see that Julian's fire was forged from steel (or the other way around metaphorically? Insert Matt Light joke here).

BTW - check out his interception return at 1:35 when he was about 10 years old - - he switches hands holding the football to the outside hand away from the defender mid-return. A 10 year old kid!!!! Not even all pros on interceptions do that!!!!

 

[Oswlek]

Not until he plays defense ;-)

Someone doesn't remember 2011.

 

[wizwor]

Someone doesn't remember 2011.

You are right! I forgot. Still not ready to elevate Jules over Brown...but you moved the sticks.

 

[raduray]

Welker had the same issue in his prime. Slot receivers (even if they really aren't slot receivers) simply don't get the same level of respect.

It's really discrimination against midgets.

 

[Joker]

The answer to all this B.S. is straight forward but far from simplistic...we run a modernized Erhardt-Perkins offensive system put in place under BB by Charlie Weis.
Summer School: The Erhardt-Perkins system

The point isn't "Edelman is a top ten WR!!"..."No he's not!!!~" Edelman is a top Erhardt-Perkins receiver who can UNDERSTAND the route tree options on every single offensive set. The reason the Keymouth Johnsons and blabbering Shannon Sharpes don't understand this offense is they NEVER had the discipline to study hard and understand a multiple option decision tree offense. It is NOT for everyone. It was NOT for Chad Johnson. It was NOT for Reggie Wayne. It has never been for WR's who use just their physical ability to try to get open. That's why Keymouth never got a sniff of a chance to play for Belichick, because exactly what Johnson stated as to how HE thinks an offense operates is exactly contrary to the Patriots offensive system. Johnson could NEVER process the decisions fast enough in the Pats offense as a Julian Edelman, or Wes Welker or a Troy Brown or a Branch. Sure he's far more physically gifted so what exactly is the reason? Resides between the ears. Period.