New England Patriots: Julian Edelman being suspended will be a challenge

Julians Edelman’s absence will be a challenge for the New England Patriots, especially without Cooks and Amendola. That being said, there’s no cause for concern.

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman missed the entire 2017 season recovering from a torn ACL. He’ll miss another four games this upcoming season.

On Thursday, ESPN reported that Edelman is being suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy regarding performance-enhancing substances. He is appealing the ban.

As it stands, the Patriots will be without Edelman for the first four weeks of the regular season, including games against the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, and Miami Dolphins.

New England boasted the NFL’s best offense last season, with Edelman sidelined for all 16 games. The team returned to the Super Bowl, Tom Brady was named league MVP and he led the NFL with 4,577 passing yards. That being said, it will be much more difficult to replace Edelman this season, than it was last year.

For starters, New England will have to face the Jaguars vaunted pass defense — which ranked first in the NFL, last season — in Jacksonville.

To make matters worse, they won’t have their top two wide receivers from last season: Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola. Cooks hauled in 65 catches for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017 while Amendola added 61 grabs for 659 yards and two scores. The two combined for 184 yards and two touchdowns against the Jaguars in the AFC Championship.

Luckily, the Patriots will have tight end Rob Gronkowski on the field to start the season. The four-time All-Pro led the team with 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns, last year. It’s worth noting that Gronkowski was targeted 105 times this past season, the most he’s been targeted since 2015 when Edelman missed seven games due to injury. Keeping Gronk off the injury report will be crucial throughout those first four weeks.

Enough depth to get by

Although the group lacks star power, New England has a good crop of depth at wide receiver. Chris Hogan will return for his third season with the team, along with Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt, and Malcolm Mitchell.

Hogan projects as the team’s top wide receiver heading into Week 1 and should assume duties as an outside receiver. Dorsett could fill a similar role as Cooks did, serving as a vertical threat and occasionally taking handoffs. Both players are approximately 5-foot-10, 185-pounds and ran sub-4.3 40-yard dashes. Mitchell missed all of 2017 due to injury after starting six games as a rookie. And, at 6-foot-3, Britt has the size to be a red zone threat.

In addition to those returning, the Patriots have two new slot receivers that could help dampen the effect of Edelman’s absence. The first, Jordan Matthews, is entering his fifth year in the NFL and had 282 yards receiving and one touchdown with the Bills, last season. 2017 was a down year for Matthews, but according to Pro Football Focus, he was an effective receiver from the slot earlier in his career.

The second receiver is 2018 sixth-round pick Braxton Berrios, whose slot production was also noted by PFF.

"“In 2017, the 5-foot-9 Berrios caught the seventh-most slot receptions (55) and eighth-most slot yards (680) in the draft class.” — Louie Benjamin, PFF"

New England also added wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson in a trade with the Raiders in March, and while his specialty is returning kicks, he could see a larger role on offense due to Edelman’s absence.

There is one positive to Edelman’s suspension. The Patriots will have an open roster spot until he returns in Week 5, which makes the position battle at wide receiver much more meaningful. The team could use the open spot for an additional special teams player, experienced veteran (like Britt), or to keep a rookie (like Berrios) from going on waivers.

Next: Patriots 53-man roster projection: Offensive Tackles

Not having Edelman for the first four games of the season will challenge how the Patriots game plan offensively, more so without Cooks and Amendola to help pick up the slack. But with Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator and Brady under center, Patriots fans will have nothing to worry about come Week 1.