Friday Film Room: Julian Edelman

How does Julian Edelman, that little ball of trash talking and hate, get open so frequently? Thursday night, Edelman lit up the Pittsburgh Steelers for 11 catches on 12 targets for 97 yards, while barking at defensive backs like your neighbor's Pomeranian.

But it's not empty yapping if you can back it up.

Edelman was the No. 16 fantasy wide receiver in my standard WR ranks and No. 13 in PPR. Despite his lack of size and elite athletic skills, that's likely where he'll stay all year. But upon seeing myself write that sentence, I almost feel as though I need to check myself. Really? Julian Edelman? A guy who had 71 catches combined in his first four NFL seasons? The converted college QB who looked like a special teams lifer until age 27? That dude with the hairdo?

Yup. That's the guy.

And we have to ask ourselves: How do the New England Patriots do it? How do they find a little scrap-heap guy, coach him up, and turn him into the unlikeliest of fantasy stars? Heck, it's easy to make Rob Gronkowski a beast. Just let him run around. But on paper, players like Edelman and Wes Welker are tougher sells. They're slot guys who turn a high volume of short throws into fantasy gold.

Make no mistake, if this were easy to accomplish, every NFL team would do it. It's not like the Patriots diagram pass plays that are wildly different from those that reside in the playbooks of 31 other NFL squads. Of course, other teams don't have Tom Brady, and that's a big starting point. But even with no receiving deep threat, the Pats seem to be able to line up and basically tell the defense that they're going to throw short, and defenses can't stop it.

Here's one example of a play every NFL team runs. The Patriots just run it better, and more convincingly, than most. It's a pick. Edelman is in the top slot with Gronkowski on his outside. Edelman runs a simple out. Gronk runs a simple in. And Gronk picks the living hell out of Cortez Allen:

See how Gronk sells the "accident" of running into Allen? "Whoa! That big ol' 197-pound Cortez Allen just sent my 265-pound self flying!" Four of Edelman's 11 catches involved some level of picking on Thursday night. Again, every NFL team does it. But Brady is as accurate a passer as has ever played the game, and Edelman's timing is impeccable.

That brings us to my next point, which is that the Pats prize an inside receiver who can change direction quickly and also sell the idea that he could go in any direction on any step. This is Antonio Brown's trademark. But Brown is also significantly more explosive on the dead run than Edelman, which explains why he's able to play outside and win so convincingly, while Edelman mostly stays in the slot. But Edelman shares Brown's quickness.

Take a look at Edelman's pre-draft workout from 2009. He ran a 3.91 20-yard shuttle time and a 6.63 three-cone time. Those are extraordinary numbers. Edelman wasn't ready to contribute to an NFL team from a route-running perspective coming out of college because he'd played QB (though he led Kent St. with 1,370 rushing yards in his senior season). But in the Patriots program, he learned the finer points of route running:

My guess is that Edelman isn't rounding off this cut because he's lazy or his legs are tired. I think with this double cut, he's actually first selling the "go" route, then he's selling the "flag" route, and then he actually runs the "flat" route that Brady expects. As you can see, Antwon Blake has no shot, at least in part because Blake is remembering this play from earlier in the game (forgive the telestration):

Blake is playing Edelman straight up, ready to bump him out of the slot. He reaches out and gets his hands on the receiver, but he has no indication of which direction Edelman wants to break, and no confidence (apparently) that he can knock Edelman off his stride. Edelman subtly sells an outside cut with his right arm, and then sticks his right foot and gets separation. Most importantly, as the ball is thrown slightly behind him, Edelman is able to reach back and secure the bobbling ball, and convert a big third down.

I don't think we're discovering anything shocking here. Edelman is an ultra-precise route runner and Brady is an ultra-accurate thrower. Welker had these same abilities, and he put up 110-plus-catch seasons in five of his six seasons in New England. It's time to start considering Edelman in the same category of no-doubt fantasy starters, no matter your fantasy league's format. It's also time to view Edelman as a high-floor DFS weekly performer. It's true that, as with Welker, touchdowns may be scarce, which is a reason to keep him among the ranks of the WR2s. But after Thursday night's game, I'm ever more convinced that you're getting double-digit targets and at least high-single-digit receptions out of Edelman every week.