3 offensive MVPs for the Patriots after three-quarters of the season
1. Julian Edelman
An uncharacteristically poor showing from the New England Patriots offense as a whole this season has overshadowed the career year that the reigning Super Bowl MVP is having in 2019.
Julian Edelman is well on his way to setting new highs for himself in every major receiving category. He needs just 24 more receptions, 192 more yards, and three more touchdowns in the Patriots’ four remaining regular season games to achieve new milestones in each of those metrics.
He’s also third in the NFL this season in receptions (behind Michael Thomas and DeAndre Hopkins), 11th in receiving yards, and tied with more “conventional” No. 1 wideouts like Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen, T.Y. Hilton, and Stefon Diggs in receiving scores.
Edelman has almost 600 more yards through the air this season than the next-closest wide receiver, Phillip Dorsett. Even James White, who currently ranks No. 2 on the Patriots in terms of receiving yards, is over 400 yards behind Edelman. And if all this wasn’t impressive enough, “Jules” also has a perfect passer rating this season after going 2/2 for 47 yards and a touchdown as an impromptu quarterback on a couple of trick plays against Pittsburgh and Dallas.
It’s never been more obvious than this season just how much Brady trusts and values his connection with Edelman. The two players are friends on and off the field, and it’s clear to anyone who tunes into a Patriots game that they’ve been playing and practicing together for years now.
Edelman is the gold standard by which all other Patriots receivers should aspire to. He’s taken time out of his own schedule to train with rookie N’Keal Harry this past summer and teach him the finer points of route-running, and recently even the great DeAndre Hopkins told reporters that Edelman was his favorite player in the league right now.
Next. Who are the Patriots' MVPs on defense right now?. dark
Hopefully the competition gets a lot stiffer to see who gets named as the three offensive MVPs at the conclusion of the regular season for the New England Patriots. Right now, it’s pretty much just The Julian Edelman Show… not a bad show to watch, mind you, but also not sustainable if this team still dreams of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy down in Miami come February.