You're moving the goalposts all over the place on this one...
It's not useful. Garbage.
BradyManny posted the stats. They are most conclusively not garbage.
They haven't been putting Edelman on the field to catch passes the last two years. He's been a situational offensive player.
That should tell you all you need to know about Edelman as a WR. That's why so many of us are scratching out heads now as to why he is taking snaps away from Welker, particularly early on.
I think we can all agree that he was never a top 2 or 3 option on any given play, so it's not surprising at all that he hasn't been productive.
Last year, Deion Branch wasn't a top two or three option on any given play. The progression went like this: Welker, Gronk, Hernandez. However, Branch still enjoyed a better season that Edelman ever has (or probably ever will) due to the fact that he took advantage of what he was given. Edelman never has.
The last two games he's been on the field more as an option.
He started the last game. That's not being on the field as an "option".
His production hasn't been great, but it's been better than zero and this is his first time playing in that outside receiver role.
Nobody is saying that his production is zero. We're saying that it isn't enough and that he simply isn't the most viable option there. The data has been presented time and time again to prove that.
He needs a chance to get comfortable.
If he hasn't had a chance to get comfortable in this offense since 2009, then something is wrong.
That wasn't my contention.
Sure it was...
His pro career has also been a direct extension of his college career. Edelman is a converted QB. He is also on a team with a lot of pass catching talent, as opposed to the Miami team that Welker was playing on which pretty much blew. You can't compare the two based on the point in their career.
Translation: You can't compare the two because it's not fair. Wes didn't have as many pass catching options around him in Miami as Julian does now so that's why Julian hasn't put up the numbers or production per snap that Wes has to date.
My contention was he is always going to be farther down in the progressions when Gronk, AH, Wes and Lloyd are on the field with him. That limits his legitimate looks even if he's on the field for a lot of snaps. I.e. he hasn't really had 'legit shots' until this year.
I just showed you that Branch was in the same position last year and contributed still. Again, Edelman gets more open looks because of playing with these other guys. If he was truly open, Brady would target him more often.
The old 'open receiver' line isn't true anymore.
Sure it is. You just don't want to be because it's yet another fact that causes your argument to implode on itself.
Brady forces it in to Welker and Gronk far too often.
Not true. All of the other pass catching options besides those two get plenty of open looks. Hernandez got a bunch as did Branch. Even the RB's got in on the fun. And Welker and Gronk also get plenty of targets because they're open most of the time, even through double coverage. Brady usually tends to force it into them against better defenses which all quarterbacks tend to do when the competition gets stiffer. Montana did it, Young did it, Marino did it, and Manning did/does it.
AGAIN (Seriously, dude, pay attention), no one is saying he's a 1-for-1 replacement for Wes.
Plenty of people have and still do say that, including you in the line below...
That doesn't mean he won't be our slot receiver next year.
Both are free agents at the end of the season.
No, you're not. You're working with two games.
Edelman has been around since 2009. When we look at his body of work and compare and contrast him to other receivers either currently or formerly on the roster, we look at his entire body of work, the last two games included. Further, the data has been posted, and it's of the ENTIRE body of work.
If you think he's been on the field as a legit passing option prior to two weeks ago (and 2009), then you're lying to yourself.
Nobody is saying that he's been on the field full time. That's why we study his production in the instances that he HAS been on the field. In this instance, I wish he was a more productive WR. But he simply isn't.
This isn't about infallibility. I don't mind him trying Edelman out early in the season to see what he has in real time, even at the expense of Welker's snaps.
And, apprently, even at the expense of a loss since that was one of several reasons for the offense's funk early on.
Nor do I have a problem with replacing Wes with Edelman if it comes to that. Edelman probably won't live up to Wes's production, but he doesn't have to. That's for AHern to live up to.
Aye. So we're going to let the best slot receiver in the NFL walk for a low production replacement and a talented tight end with a history of injury issues. How much more attention do you think that oft-injured talented TE will get without Welker there to demand the amount of attention that he demands?