Julian Edelman?

[cstjohn17]

I have been very surprised to see him phased out of the passing game. He showed a lot in the first couple of games. Especially with Gronk back I thought he could assume the role of a Wes Welker wanna be. Line him up in the slot and the Pats have two reliable targets on the inside (Edelman and Gronk) then a rotation is setup outside with Dobson, Thomkins and Amendola. Pair this with Ridley and the skill positions look pretty decent.

What have others seen? Any thoughts on why Edelman is not more involved? I don't want him to get 20 targets a game but he can make an impact with 4-7 touches per game.

 

[PatsDeb]

I wasn't particularly focused on Edelman, but while at the Miami game I was struck by how, in general, the Pat's WRs could not get open. They had no separation, even when Miami was double- and triple-teaming Gronk. Not sure if this is the problem with Edelman. I also thought that in the Jets game Brady was way too locked onto Gronk. That started to be the case in the Miami game too, with the early pick, and even after that Brady threw a couple of times to Gronk when he clearly wasn't open. I think it got better as the game went on, that, and the return of Ridley from the dog house (if that's what happened).

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I have been very surprised to see him phased out of the passing game. He showed a lot in the first couple of games. Especially with Gronk back I thought he could assume the role of a Wes Welker wanna be. Line him up in the slot and the Pats have two reliable targets on the inside (Edelman and Gronk) then a rotation is setup outside with Dobson, Thomkins and Amendola. Pair this with Ridley and the skill positions look pretty decent.

What have others seen? Any thoughts on why Edelman is not more involved? I don't want him to get 20 targets a game but he can make an impact with 4-7 touches per game.

It's all about matchups. Let's see what happens next week.

 

[JMC00]

Here are his snap counts for the season.

33 (of 65) vs Miami
74 (of 79) vs NY
43 (of 88) vs NO
60 (of 63) vs CIN
64 (of 66) vs ATL
68 (of 73) vs TB
63 (of 65) vs NY
83 (of 93) vs BUF

I wouldn't really call it phased out. But it really shouldn't be a surprise that 2 of his lowest games have been with Amendola, Dobson and Thompkins active.

 

[Patriot Missile]

I really thought the Amendola Edelman combo would be cool to watch. It was a disaster last Sunday. Not until Dobson stepped in did the team start getting open.

 

[Claremonster]

Maybe the Pats want him healthy?...it isn't like he is unbreakable or something.

 

[DocHoliday]

Is actually say its because he's a little banged up. He took some huge hits at the end of the Saints game and had to play against NY with Amendola KO'd.

 

[VrabelJr]

In my opinion we've kind of been using Edelman weird in recent weeks. I think he's a player that is better suited close to the formation but it seem's we've been sending him out wide quite a bit. I don't see him as a competitive WR against bigger, stronger outside CBs.

 

[Ring 6]

I have been very surprised to see him phased out of the passing game. He showed a lot in the first couple of games. Especially with Gronk back I thought he could assume the role of a Wes Welker wanna be. Line him up in the slot and the Pats have two reliable targets on the inside (Edelman and Gronk) then a rotation is setup outside with Dobson, Thomkins and Amendola. Pair this with Ridley and the skill positions look pretty decent.

What have others seen? Any thoughts on why Edelman is not more involved? I don't want him to get 20 targets a game but he can make an impact with 4-7 touches per game.

Edelman really wasn't very effective on the reps he got IMO.
He had good games vs the Bills and Falcons but otherwise hasn't been real effective IMO for the expanded role he has had.
I know many people thought the first Jet game was great, but I did not. He caught passes that the defense was very happy to give and couldnt get open on routes they covered closely. It was, to me, the receiver equivalent of a RB rushing 40 times for 85 yards.

I think he is what he is, a guy who will get some reps but is going to be behind Amendola, Dobson, probably Collie, and depending on which way he goes from here, maybe Thompkins.

 

[RIpats88]

he was effective against the Bills as well...I thought the amendola/edelman combo looked promising that game..really amendola only got 30 something snaps sunday as well

 

[Deus Irae]

I wasn't particularly focused on Edelman, but while at the Miami game I was struck by how, in general, the Pat's WRs could not get open...

Same problem pretty much all year long...

 

[SVN]

The ineffective 'screen' pass to himwhere he was tackled for a loss clearly is a indication, that no one respects our WR right now and play very tight man . WR are finding it hard to get open timing with the oline. One of these guys edelman.amendola, has to have start having good games between the #s to start getting some respect from defenses.

 

[Tunescribe]

Julian Edelman is a superior punt returner, and that alone confirms his value to this team.

 

[supafly]

The ineffective 'screen' pass to himwhere he was tackled for a loss clearly is a indication, that no one respects our WR right now and play very tight man . WR are finding it hard to get open timing with the oline. One of these guys edelman.amendola, has to have start having good games between the #s to start getting some respect from defenses.

This also goes hand in hand with your thoughts on PIT being able to afford to sell out a bit vs our rushing game, since they likely won't be too concerned with our passing attack.

The game on Sunday has me nervous the more and more I think about it. My initial thought was that we could take advantage of their somewhat porous rush defense, but as you said--no matter how ineffective the opposition's rush defense seems this season they are going to cheat a bit and often sell out vs our run until Brady and co. can prove themselves worthy in the passing game.

We either need someone to step up and quickly, or McDaniels and Brady need to get more creative in some form. Either way you look at it, the passing offense needs to produce to help our running game, and our running game needs to improve to help our play action.

Julian Edelman is a superior punt returner, and that alone confirms his value to this team.

Absolutely, Tunescribe; but we're pretty much just referring to his role in the passing game at the moment. Edelman looked like he improved a lot in the first month or so of the season, yet seems to have regressed tremendously and has come back to earth with a quickness.

 

[Tunescribe]

Edelman looked like he improved a lot in the first month or so of the season, yet seems to have regressed tremendously and has come back to earth with a quickness.

He played clutch in the Saints game, then suddenly Gronk came back (Jets) and now Amendola is back, along with the addition of Collie. Edelman has not "regressed" at all but is being used differently, considering (1) the necessity of preserving his punt-return capabilities to help compensate for a sputtering offense and (2) the presence of other receivers with similar skill sets.

 

[Nunchucks]

Until the Patriots start throwing some deep passes for Dobson to go get, teams will flood the middle of the field and make it difficult for the Patriots to play their game.

Dobson can be that guy, they just need to give him the chance.

 

[I am party]

Is actually say its because he's a little banged up. He took some huge hits at the end of the Saints game and had to play against NY with Amendola KO'd.

Indeed. He took a big hit to the thigh in the Saints game on a reception down the seam. He got pretty lucky that his foot wasn't planted when he took the hit, or it could have been much worse. Even so, it has limited him in every practice since the Saints game. Maybe he's still not yet fully recovered.

 

[supafly]

He played clutch in the Saints game, then suddenly Gronk came back (Jets) and now Amendola is back, along with the addition of Collie. Edelman has not "regressed" at all but is being used differently, considering (1) the necessity of preserving his punt-return capabilities to help compensate for a sputtering offense and (2) the presence of other receivers with similar skill sets.

Okay, fair enough. Maybe "regressed" is a poor choice of words, but either way you look at it he has come back down to earth, which is the point of the thread.

It would appear that the coaching staff agrees with me based on his more limited reps and opportunities lately. There is another thread about this regarding our current depth chart, and Edelman would appear to be trending in the wrong direction for one reason or another. Mgteich actually assumes that Edelman may be taken out of the scheme altogether as Collie and Amendola receive more reps. Collie has been seeing increased reps as he learns the offense/becomes more comfortable with it, and Amendola's reps will only be increasing as he returns to full health.

We'll have to see how it turns out, and I'm sure he'll still make some plays here and there, but he's nowhere near where he was in importance or talent as he was when Amendola and Collie were not playing.

 

[varjao]

Just for the record for those who used to say he was glass made he played every game so far

 

[Deus Irae]

Just for the record for those who used to say he was glass made he played every game so far

How does that change anything? Does it magically mean that he wasn't getting hurt in the past? He's made it through eight games. That's not exactly iron man material, for crying out loud.