Fantasy focus: What to expect from Julian Edelman in his Week 5 return
"Bad things don’t happen when I throw it to Julian."
Since July, when Julian Edelman’s four-game suspension was upheld by the NFL, the date circled on calendars across New England was the Patriots’ Week 5 matchup with the Colts.
Edelman, who is also returning from an ACL tear that caused him to miss the entire 2017 season, is expected to make his 2018 debut on Thursday night. The expectations for the wide receiver – both for the Patriots as well as fantasy football players – have been slowly building.
This was amplified during the Patriots’ early season struggles on offense, especially on third down. A familiar refrain among both fans and media revolved around “getting Julian Edelman back.” His ability to make clutch catches, for obvious reasons, has been expected to help alleviate the lack of offensive efficiency.
In a recent interview, former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich – who worked out with Edelman during his suspension – offered a telling quote on this concept. The expectations placed on the 32-year-old might need to be tempered, at least in the short term.
“Everyone’s been saying, ‘Once Julian’s back, once Julian’s back, once Julian’s back,’” Ninkovich said in a recent NBC Sports Boston segment. “Well look, he’s had an ACL [injury], he’s coming back, but if he has 15 receptions and he’s getting pounded his first week back, I mean that might not be the best for long term Julian Edelman.”
That said, Ninkovich seemed to have no doubt about how Edelman looks in terms of regaining strength and speed.
“I think he looks great, he’s explosive, he’s fast.”
Returning to the Patriots on Monday, Edelman has the unusual (and slightly unfortunate) task of trying to work his way into a lineup during a short week. With such a quick turnaround, Bill Belichick seemed to scale back expectations regarding Edelman’s immediate role against the Colts.
“Good to have him back and we’ll see,” Belichick told reporters on Tuesday conference call. “I mean, we didn’t practice yesterday, so we’ll get moving on some things today in terms of the game plan and trying to get as far along on Indianapolis as we can. So, obviously, it’s going to be a crammed course, and so we’ll just see how it all comes together. I don’t know. He hasn’t been here in a month and it’s a short week. We’ll just have to see how things work out.”
In the long run, there is little doubt that a healthy Edelman will have plenty of opportunity in the Patriots’ offense. The reason for this is the confidence bestowed on him by Tom Brady.
“He’s in that James White mode where he’s just so dependable and consistent and tough,” Brady said in an interview on WEEI’s “Kirk & Callahan.”
In a question about his growing chemistry with Josh Gordon, Brady also volunteered an interesting appraisal of his relationship with Edelman (and Rob Gronkowski). His longtime rapport allows him to avoid “bad things,” as Brady explained:
Now that he’s our teammate, we got to get to know each other because you can build that trust and chemistry in different ways and you see it with guys that I played with for a long time, it builds and builds and builds. What happens is you’re able to make a lot of good plays and you basically eliminate all of the bad plays. Bad things don’t happen when I throw it to Julian. Bad things don’t happen when I throw it to Gronk, just because I know their body language and I know the types of plays that they’re capable of making.
In pure fantasy terms, Edelman is still seen as a valuable asset, particularly in points-per-reception (PPR) formats.
“Tom Brady loves throwing to that spot on the field,” said ESPN fantasy expert Matthew Berry of the Patriots’ quarterback’s proclivity for short throws, “especially when that spot is manned by Julian Edelman.
