This guy isn’t a superstar yet. He’s not even a star. In fact, his name is barely known outside New England. If you asked a Saints fan or a Lions fan who Julien Edelman is, they probably wouldn’t know. At best, you’d get a response somewhere in between “Sounds familiar” and “He’s a football player, right?”
The name Julien Edelman should sound familiar. And yes, he is a football player.
I’m not a fan of making predictions. It bothers me when analysts give their picks before a game, generally because their forecasts are based on circumstantial evidence from the outcomes of the most recent games, and their opinions on teams drastically alters from week to week. When asked for my prediction, I almost always answer “It’s a 50/50 game.” Some might think it’s a cop-out, but as someone who witnessed an 18-0 record go down the rabbit hole against an inferior team in the Super Bowl, I can safely say that any given football game is 50/50, and predicting the great players of tomorrow is a pesky habit that will almost certainly cost you your reputation. So I don’t do it too often.
I’m not gonna extol the virtues of Julien Edelman and lay him on thick as the next big thing in the NFL. I refuse to overstate my belief in him for the reasons I just addressed -- you simply never know. But what I can say with certainty is this much: When this guy’s on the field, I’m excited. He makes plays. He assists in making plays. He’s pure energy. He’s a cookie made from Bill’s cookie-cutting kit -- which is a compliment, considering how many players get cut from the roster for refusing to be cut into the type of cookie that Coach Belichick likes to munch on. Edelman is a versatile player who doesn’t truly play one specific position; he’s a wide receiver, but he’s also a punt-returner. He’s also an excellent defender and a great tackler for his size. Bill’s got him playing slot receiver and defending the slot receiver too. If you consider offense and defense and special teams as the three cornerstones of a football team, then every Patriots fan should know this guy’s name because he’s on all three.
As the 232nd pick in the seventh round of the draft, Julien has the same afterthought overtones as Tom Brady -- who was drafted in the sixth round as the 199th pick. In fact, none of the current Patriots players were really wanted by anyone. Kyle Arrington came up from the New England practice squad after being waived by the Eagles, Andre Carter was signed as a free agent after the Redskins severed ties with him, Danny Woodhead signed as a free agent after being waived by the Jets, Aaron Hernandez was the 113th pick from the fourth round, Wes Welker was traded to New England after being waived by the Chargers and being unwanted in Miami, Rob Ninkovich came out of the fifth draft round and was signed as a free agent after being waived by the Saints and the Dolphins, and Rob Gronkowski looks like the superstar coming out of the second round as the 42nd pick. Overall, the Patriots are not the Dream Team on paper.
But neither were the Pats of 2001. This is a league where things that look great Monday through Saturday rarely look good on Sunday, so being great on paper really isn’t worth the crummy stock it’s printed on. Full-circle we come to Julien Edelman. This guy’s a player. I still can’t say with any certainty how far he’ll go in the NFL, but I know he is -- and will be -- a part of any success New England encounters this year. Rarely have I seen an athlete so compelling at so many things. He’s James Posey and Tony Allen fused together in a two-pod teleportation experiment that went horribly haywire and resulted in Jeff Goldblum becoming the Fly and Julien Edelman becoming the Man. He may not be Darrelle Revis or Wes Welker or Devin Hester or Osi Umenyiora, but Julien Edelman has little bits and pieces of each of those guys in his game, and he plays with adrenaline and a will to win. I like this guy. Keep him on your radar.
