Julian Edelman Injury Update: Fantasy Football Owners, New England Patriots Fans Cringe
Julian Edelman injury news has not been positive from the New England Patriots. A fresh Julian Edelman injury update states that the receiver has a broken foot. A report from CBS Sports reveals that he suffered the injury in the first quarter against the New York Giants on Sunday, November 15. Now he may miss the rest of the NFL season. That’s really bad news for fantasy football owners counting on his production.
Sources close to the team state that he has broken the fifth metatarsal in his foot, which is very similar to the injury that Dez Bryant and Julio Jones each suffered. Bryant missed five games following his injury, and Jones was out even longer as the Atlanta Falcons held him back. What it forces the Patriots to figure out is what the team will do if Edelman is truly lost for the rest of the year.
So far during the 2015 NFL season, Julian Edelman has caught 61 passes for 692 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He is having one of this best seasons since coming into the NFL in the 2009 season, with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady targeting him quite frequently. Losing him from the offense could be a big blow to the team.
Even after losing Edelman to the injury on Sunday, the Patriots found a way to beat the Giants (29-28). The team is now 9-0 and leads the AFC East by a full four games. It’s also the best record in the conference, just ahead of the 8-0 Cincinnati Bengals and 7-2 Denver Broncos. All three teams look to very easily make the NFL Playoffs, as only six teams in the AFC even have a.500 record at this point.
The Patriots play the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 (November 23), before heading to play the Broncos in Denver on November 29. Both games are really big in the standings, as the Patriots could just about clinch the East by beating the Bills and then a first-round bye by beating the Broncos. It’s not the time any team would want to deal with an injury to its top receiver, but it’s something that Brady has been able to deal with in the past.
This Julian Edelman injury dictates that Danny Amendola and Brandon LaFell are going to see more action on offense. All Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski could see a small increase in targets as well, but Brady typically targets him very often already. For fantasy football owners where either Amendola or LaFell is still available in free agency or the waiver wire, now is the time to go pick them up. Touchdown passes are surely going to be in their near future.
With seven weeks still left in the NFL regular season, it’s very possible that Edelman could be healthy by the time the first-round of the playoffs begins. If the New England Patriots secure home field advantage and a first-round bye, it will give Edelman an extra week to get back up to game speed in practices. That’s a best case scenario, though, as a broken bone in the foot is hard to project when it comes to a recover time.
With regard to his value in fantasy football leagues for the rest of the 2015 NFL season, it’s time to stash Edelman in an injured reserve slot and move on. While losing a huge weapon like Julian Edelman could be rough for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to deal with, he has prior experiences of losing Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski for big chunks of time. Now it’s just about staying on track and continuing to rack up wins to try to compete for another AFC title.
[ Photo by: Darren McCollester/Getty Images]
