New England Patriots kick-off in 11 days: profiling No. 11 Julian Edelman
Opening day countdowns are great. So are player profiles. Here at Musket Fire, we decided to combine them and create a Week 1 countdown-oriented, jersey number-dictated player profile series. Yesterday we looked at No. 12 Tom Brady, and the day before that it was No. 13 Brandon Gibson. Because today marks 11 days until the New England Patriots open 2015, we are profiling No. 11, wide receiver Julian Edelman.
Selected by the Patriots in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft, Edelman has done it all. After playing quarterback in college, he has since helped the Patriots in all three phases of the game as a wide receiver, cornerback and punt returner.
The first four seasons of Edelman’s career didn’t garner much attention outside of New England. He caught 37 balls as a rookie, but recorded just 32 receptions over the next three seasons combined.
But when the 2013 season rolled around, it was Edelman who took the role of the departed Wes Welker, and he made the most of the opportunity. Edelman racked up 1,056 yards and six scores on 105 receptions that year.
In 2014, Edelman was a superman. His regular season numbers weren’t quite as good as 2013 (92 receptions for 956 yards and four touchdowns), but Edelman immortalized himself in Patriot Nation with an unforgettable postseason performance.
Over the course of the three playoff games, Edelman reeled in an astonishing 26 passes for 281 yards and the all-important winning touchdown grab against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. And then there was his perfect pass to Danny Amendola against the Ravens. Watching this never gets old.
As a punt returner, Edelman is one of the best in NFL history. He is the owner of a 12.2 yards per return average, and No. 11 also has four touchdowns returns to his name.
Unfortunately, Edelman is currently dealing with an ankle issue that has put his Week 1 status in some degree of doubt. But according to NESN.com’s Doug Kyed, Edelman is working his way off the injury report.
Julian Edelman appears to have taken another step forward as he recovers from a lower leg injury. Edelman participated in wide receiver drills throughout the 20-minute open media period Wednesday. Edelman left to work on conditioning on the lower practice field midway through the open media period Tuesday.
A fan favorite in New England if there ever was one, Edelman probably should have been the MVP in Super Bowl XLIX. Without a doubt, he is one of the most irreplaceable players on the Patriots’ roster, and certainly is leaps and bounds better than Welker ever was.
In case you missed them, here are the profiles for No. 14 Chris Harper, No. 15 Reggie Wayne, No. 16 Jonathan Krause, No. 17 Aaron Dobson, No. 18 Matthew Slater, No. 19 Brandon LaFell, No. 21 Malcolm Butler, No. 22 Robert McClain, No. 23 Patrick Chung, No. 24 Bradley Fletcher, No. 25 Daxton Swanson, No. 26 Logan Ryan, No. 27 Tavon Wilson, No. 28 James White, No. 29 LeGarrette Blount, No. 30 Duron Harmon, No. 31 Tarell Brown, No. 32 Devin McCourty, No. 33 Dion Lewis, No. 35 Jonas Gray and No. 36 Tyler Gaffney.
Be sure to check back on Musket Fire tomorrow morning as we celebrate 10 days until Week 1 by profiling the owner of the No. 10 jersey, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.