Patriots: 10 Most Valuable Players from 2015 Regular Season

4. Julian Edelman

Doug Kyed of NESN.com put into perspective just how much better the Patriots are with Edelman on the field. Here’s an excerpt from Kyed’s article earlier this week about how poorly the Patriots’ offense has played in Edelman’s absence:

"The Patriots’ completion percentage drops nearly 10 points, their passer rating drops nine points, Brady is sacked at a higher rate and their average yards per play drops by 2.7 yards. “Perhaps what’s most glaring is how poorly the Patriots have performed on third down without Edelman. The Patriots’ third-down conversion rate dropped by 16.1 percent. Brady had a 113.5 passer rating while targeting Edelman, completing 71.8 percent of his passes for 692 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also was able to get rid of the ball much quicker with Edelman, which made the Patriots’ offensive line issues much less glaring. It took Brady an average of just 2.10 seconds to release the ball in Weeks 1 through 9. It took him 2.44 seconds to release the ball since Week 10, when Edelman left the game at the end of the first quarter."

With all that in mind, it’s clear that the Patriots need a healthy Edelman if they are going to gear-up for a Super Bowl run.

Next: 3. Dont’a Hightower