As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. We only look at the past three seasons for a player. This is because anyone who is looking at data from 2016 to figure out what to do in 2020 had better be poison control desperately trying to figure out how to make Justin Timberlake stop the feeling. Julian Edelman was a consistent WR1 in 2019 but had a tiny change to his offense in the offseason, how will it affect his fantasy value?
Julian Edelman ADP and AAV:
Standard: WR35, 80 overall
PPR: WR34, 77 overall
Julian Edelman Average Auction Value: $2
Julian Edelman Statistics:
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| G | 16 | 12 | N/A |
| GS | 13 | 12 | N/A |
| Tgt | 153 | 108 | N/A |
| Rec | 100 | 74 | N/A |
| Yards | 1117 | 850 | N/A |
| TD | 6 | 6 | N/A |
| Tgt/G | 9.56 | 6.75 | N/A |
| Rec/G | 6.25 | 4.63 | N/A |
| Rec% | 65.4% | 68.5% | N/A |
| Yds/Tgt | 7.30 | 7.87 | N/A |
| Yds/Rec | 11.17 | 11.49 | N/A |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Std Pts | 156.3 | 133.4 | N/A |
| HPPR Pts | 206.3 | 170.4 | N/A |
| PPR Pts | 256.3 | 207.4 | N/A |
| Pts/G | 9.8 | 11.1 | N/A |
| HPPR Pts/G | 12.9 | 14.2 | N/A |
| PPR Pts/G | 16.0 | 17.3 | N/A |
| Pts/Tgt | 1.02 | 1.24 | N/A |
| Pts/Tgt (HPPR) | 1.35 | 1.58 | N/A |
| Pts/Tgt (PPR) | 1.68 | 1.92 | N/A |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Air Yards | 1473 | 828 | N/A |
| aDOT | 9.6 | 7.7 | N/A |
| YAC | 320 | 346 | N/A |
| YAC/Tgt | 2.09 | 3.23 | N/A |
| YAC/Rec | 3.20 | 4.74 | N/A |
| YAC% | 28.6% | 41.5% | N/A |
| AYMS | 30% | 24% | N/A |
| Tgt MS | 25% | 25% | N/A |
Julian Edelman Overview:
According to my research, Julian Edelman’s quarterback for the past 3 years was someone named “Tom Brady.” I’ve never heard of him, but when a QB leaves there can often be a regression.
Edelman’s new quarterback is the Stephenville High School legend Jarrett Stidham. Could this represent a leap in opportunity for Edelman, now that he’s no longer catching passes from… what was his name again?
Hold on, I’m going to hit myself in the head in the exact same way I got hit ten minutes ago…
Ohhhhhh, Tom Brady! That’s right.
While Edelman might not be on the same page with Stidham, and the offense might not score as much as they did before, he’s definitely worth rostering if you can get him for cheap. The tight route-runner is going to be an extremely favorite outlet for a struggling Stidham. This will make Edelman especially valuable in PPR leagues. He should also catch a bonus in non-PPR leagues, because he is 34 years old and I assume anyone still playing in a non PPR league loves dinosaurs and gives a huge bonus to them.
Julian Edelman Draft Strategy:
Julian Edleman Auction Value: $3
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming late June)
Finding the right spot to grab Julian Edelman is very scientific. If you are in your draft and saying, “hey, I need to grab a third WR with a high floor. Huh, Julian Edelman is still available, hey?” Then you should draft Julian Edelman. If you are a “stickler” for “numbers” then I’d say a late-mid round or a few bucks.
Best Case Scenario:
Edelman gets a lot of targets and is the same high-floor guy that helps fill out strong teams. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not going to score more than 15 points in any game, ever, but for a fill in a floor of 5 or so is nice. Plus, for the first time in 20 years, you get to root for New England while in church without bursting into flames.
Worst Case Scenario:
Jarrett Stidham throws a pass to Julian Edelman. In horror, Edelman realizes the football is a ticking time bomb that Stidham was paid by Adam Gase to deliver. Bill Belichick realizes that he accidentally hired Transporter star Jason Statham instead of Jarrett Stidham.
[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]
