The New England Patriots have many talented players. They will all be on display this Sunday in Super Bowl 53. The Patriots have never had a deep threat wide receiver in the Tom Brady era outside of Randy Moss. They have depended on the slot receivers. Those receivers have been Wes Welker, Danny Amendola, and Troy Brown. The current slot receivers are Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman. Edelman has made the biggest impact on Brady and the Patriot’s offense. He seems to show up in big games when the spotlight is on.
Edelman came to the Patriots through the Draft. He was taken in the 7th round out of Kent State. At Kent State, he played quarterback. The Patriots decided to transform him into a wide receiver. In his four seasons, he adjusted to that change. He did 359 yards receiving in his first year. He broke out in the 2013 season and has been a pillar in the Patriot’s offense.
This season the Patriots have had to lean on these types of receivers. They had Josh Gordon, who was a deep threat wideout. Gordon has battled demons off the field and left the NFL just a few months ago. So Brady has looked for Edelman in big moments. One of those big moments came last week against the Kansas City Chiefs. He caught 7 balls for 96 yards. He was the main weapon on the winning touchdown drive in overtime against the Chiefs.
Edelman is 4th all-time in yards for wide receivers in the playoffs. He trails Jerry Rice only by 974 yards. In the last Super Bowl win, he had a big catch that helped the Patriots have the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. The Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons by 25 points and came back to win in overtime. He also has history with Los Angeles Rams’ head coach Sean McVay. McVay played against Edelman in college. Look for Edelman to have a good game on Sunday.
