How Will Pats Replace Edelman?

The Patriots were dealt a big blow Friday night, as Julian Edelman tore his right ACL and will be sidelined for the 2017 season. Luckily for New England, wide receiver is arguably the deepest position on the roster, and the loss of Edelman does not appear to put the Patriots Super Bowl hopes in jeopardy.

On paper, the injury is far worse for Edelman himself then the team, as one has to wonder if the 31 year old Edelman will ever be able to return to the elite play we have come accustomed to seeing every Sunday out of the Kent State product. Obviously, that is certainly the more pessimistic angle, especially after witnessing other NFL players (Adrian Peterson, Chris Harris Jr., and Jeremy Maclin come to mind immediately) return from ACL injuries and continue to play at a high level, but these concerns cannot be dismissed, seeing as so much of Edelman’s livelihood as a slot weapon is predicated on being able to make sharp, quick cuts to create space.

As for the Patriots as a whole, one can point to the 2015 season as reason to panic, as the Patriots rolled to a 9-0 start before Edelman went down with a broken bone in his foot, and the Edelman-less Patriots stumbled down the stretch, going just 3-4 and losing out on home-field advantage in the AFC.

The offense suffered greatly, as Brady’s 111.1 passer rating with Edelman slumped to just 89.1 without him, and his 338.1 passing yards per game declined to just 246.1 yards per game. His sparkling 24-3 touchdown to interception ratio with Edelman in the nine games he was in the lineup deteriorated to just a 12-4 ratio in the final seven games without him.

However, the 2015 team was far less equipped to handling life without Edelman, as that group of pass-catchers consisted of Rob Gronkowski, Brandon LaFell, Danny Amendola, Keyshawn Martin, Brandon Bolden, Scott Chandler, and a second-year James White. This years group is leaps and bounds better then that, as the Patriots now have Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan, and Danny Amendola as slot fill-ins, not to mention other weapons like Gronk, Malcolm Mitchell, James White, Dion Lewis, and Dwayne Allen that should be more than enough to offset the loss of Edelman.

In fact, Cooks, Hogan, and Amendola all spent at least 37% of their snaps in the slot last year, and each had great production when lined up there. Cooks (37% of his snaps) had 23 catches and totaled 305 yards in the slot with New Orleans in 2016, good for a 13.3 yards per catch total. Hogan (also 37% of his snaps) racked up 16 catches and 282 yards when in the slot last season, producing a gaudy 17.6 yards per catch figure.

Amendola, the receiver who figures to handle the brunt of Edelman’s workload, spent by far the most time in the slot of the three (89% of his snaps), and totaled 20 catches for 233 yards, good for 11.7 yards per catch. That trio should have what it takes to counterbalance Edelman’s 63 catches and 724 yards from the slot last year, but the area where the Patriots do not have a clear cut solution is on third down, seeing as he led the NFL in receiving yards on 3rd down in 2016 with 431 yards, and finished second in receptions on 3rd down with 28.

Hopefully this group of pass-catchers, arguably the strongest the Patriots have seen since 2007 (even without Edelman), can make up for the production lost by Edelman’s injury and live up to the sky-high expectations of the 2017 Patriot