NFL Expert Ranks Julian Edelman As The 19th Best WR In 2014
By Cyrus Geller
Matt Miller of Bleacher Report released his top 1,000 wide receivers from 2014 list yesterday, and he had New England Patriots’ star wideout Julian Edelman checked in at number 19. Now, I love Miller, and in a field of idiots, he stands out as one of the few good writers, but I have to take offense to his ranking of Edelman.
What Edelman showed the world throughout the Patriots’ 2014-15 playoff run was nothing short of sensational. There is nobody in the NFL, aside from the Gronks of the world, that would have popped right up from that Kam Chancellor hit in the Super Bowl and kept running. Dez Bryant would have stayed down, Emmanuel Sanders would have stayed down, Calvin Johnson would have stayed down, and yes, even the great Odell Beckham would have stayed down.
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It’s not that play alone that makes me believe Edelman is a top three receiver in the game, but it is what that play represents. Toughness and heart are traits that are often overlooked by scouts and analysts, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why. When was the last time a team won a championship because they had an outside receiver that just relied on his talent?
I’ll wait.
However last season, Tom Brady and someone named Julian Edelman were an unstoppable force throughout the playoffs, and that was one of the main reasons why they walked away with the Lombardi trophy. Edelman’s quickness is insane, his route-running is precise, his knowledge of the game is immense, his hands are solid, and most importantly, he has the heart of a lion.
If I had to choose one offensive player to build my team around that wasn’t a quarterback, and wasn’t named Rob Gronkowski, I’m taking Jules every single time. No disrespect to the likes of Dez, Megatron, or Odell, but Edelman showed me what a true champion is last year, and I want that kind of heart leading my football team.