Edelman-D. Thomas-Flickr
Why is there no respect for Edelman?
Were you that child who came home with straight A’s, while your sibling came home with D’s? There is no problem here right? Sure, there is no problem until your parents start praising the ‘D’ student, and ignoring the ‘A’ student. This is the case with Julian Edelman.
Fills any position
“Jules” as his teammates refer to him, is the hardest working player in football and has been for years. When Bill Belichick needed a CB, Mr. Burgertyme himself stepped up for the mastermind and helped sustain the position for the New England Patriots. 27-career tackles, when that is not even your job, are nothing to turn your nose up at. Jules is the type of guy that if coach needed him at DT for the entire season, he would not bat an eye. Heck, the guy even threw a TD during their Super Bowl run in an epic comeback against the Baltimore Ravens. If you wanted this guy to be a towel boy, he would even excel at that.
Constantly Snubbed
Why are the league, as well as fantasy football players not seeing this toughness, this versatility, this value? Why are they consistently overlooking him when it comes to certain top player rankings? He even gets dissed in fantasy football, even though he is consistent. Let’s harp on this for a second. In 2015, according to Sports Illustrated,
“Edelman was on his way to the best numbers of his career before a broken left foot ended his regular season.”
“Well, he broke his foot” is what you’re going to say next right. Ok, let’s put him up against a guy who also broke a bone in his foot in 2015 and played the exact amount of games. Check the stats below. I am sure you are familiar with the guy. Here are the stats.
| WR | G | REC | YDS | YPC | 20+ | TD | TGT |
| #1 | 9 | 61 | 692 | 11.3 | 8 | 7 | 88 |
| #2 | 9 | 31 | 401 | 12.9 | 3 | 3 | 72 |
Numbers don’t lie
Those numbers belong to Edelman and none other than the highly celebrated Dallas Cowboy Dez Bryant. Oh, but wait, there’s more. Julian’s numbers are the WR #1! That’s right folks. Edelman is just as valuable to owners as Dez. Are you still not a believer? In 2014 Dez lit the boards up with whopping 88-receptions for 1320-yds and 16-scores. Guess what receiver had 92-receptions that year? Think PPR people. The guy adds extreme value and will bolster any fantasy unit out there, yet players like Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders out-rank him on most lists.
I am scratching my head, wondering if I should just create my own list, based on the truth, not these dumb popularity contests people call “Top-this that and the other.” Here’s to the hardest working little guy in football, and my key to winning my fantasy league this year. Cheers Jules!
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Jermaine Lockett is a Writer and CEO for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or twitter.
