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With Edelman's Patriots moving on to the Super Bowl yet again, I thought it would be a good time to post this. He's now 30 years old and has only been a starter for 4 years with two 1000+ yard seasons. His regular season numbers don't seem Hall-of-Fame worthy but he's building an interesting Hall-of-Fame resume due to his playoff performances. He's now 17th all time in playoff receiving yards and could move into the top 10 with a good Super Bowl. He's now at 937 playoff yards which puts him in realistic reach of ending up 2nd all time (Michael Irvin is second at 1315). No one is touching Jerry Rice's 2245.

Additionally, he's 7th all time in total playoff receptions at 84. He needs 10 more receptions to take sole possession of second place all time (Reggie Wayne at 93). Again, he's probably not touching Jerry Rice's 151 receptions.

The argument against him will always be, he has had so many opportunities because the Patriots go deep every year and he has Brady throwing to him. He's now played in 14 career playoff games compared to Irvin's 18, so he's trailing Irvin's yards per game by 82.2 to 66.9. However, Edelman was really just a special teams player for 4 of those 14 games. If you take those games out he's had 906 yards in 10 games which is 90.6 yards per game.

So bottom line it looks very likely he will wind up second overall in playoff receptions, probably by a decent amount. It's also possible he'll wind up second in playoff receiving yards. So the question would become could you keep the second best playoff wide receiver out of the Hall-of-Fame?

Given how hard it is to make the football hall of fame, I really don't see Edelman making it even if he puts up another 5 years of great stats. I really wonder if Antonio Gates has gotten to the point where he is a no-brainer (I think he is, but it wouldn't surprise me if he has to wait a few ballots).

(01-22-2017 10:37 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  With Edelman's Patriots moving on to the Super Bowl yet again, I thought it would be a good time to post this. He's now 30 years old and has only been a starter for 4 years with two 1000+ yard seasons. His regular season numbers don't seem Hall-of-Fame worthy but he's building an interesting Hall-of-Fame resume due to his playoff performances. He's now 17th all time in playoff receiving yards and could move into the top 10 with a good Super Bowl. He's now at 937 playoff yards which puts him in realistic reach of ending up 2nd all time (Michael Irvin is second at 1315). No one is touching Jerry Rice's 2245.

Additionally, he's 7th all time in total playoff receptions at 84. He needs 10 more receptions to take sole possession of second place all time (Reggie Wayne at 93). Again, he's probably not touching Jerry Rice's 151 receptions.

The argument against him will always be, he has had so many opportunities because the Patriots go deep every year and he has Brady throwing to him. He's now played in 14 career playoff games compared to Irvin's 18, so he's trailing Irvin's yards per game by 82.2 to 66.9. However, Edelman was really just a special teams player for 4 of those 14 games. If you take those games out he's had 906 yards in 10 games which is 90.6 yards per game.

So bottom line it looks very likely he will wind up second overall in playoff receptions, probably by a decent amount. It's also possible he'll wind up second in playoff receiving yards. So the question would become could you keep the second best playoff wide receiver out of the Hall-of-Fame?

Yes

I've actually pondered this question myself.

There is no doubt Edelman is a good NFL football player and a great representative of K.S.U.

I don't think he's anywhere near H.O.F. material though. I don't recall, has he ever been All-Pro?

I do believe Antonio Gates will be a first ballot shoe-in.

I tend to agree he's a long shot at this point. I think it's an interesting question though. The playoffs matter the most so in theory shouldn't playoff performance be weighted more heavily in HOF consideration? It's also worth noting he's been an effective to elite punt returner his whole career even after becoming the teams top WR. Say he has 4 or 5 more seasons at or around 1000 yards and keeps up his playoff performances I think he has to be considered.

As for Gates, I think he's a no brainer at this point. Every TD he scores from this point out sets a new record for most TDs by a TE.

If you say he goes 5 more years at 1000 yds. per season that needs closer review. I don't agree that playoff performance should be weighted more heavily though. That's too much team related (and luck) for me. Comparing different eras is tough enough without adding that variable into it.

Ok, so if playoff stats shouldn't be weighted heavier than you're saying a receiver having a regular season around 1000 yards is comparable to Edelman having 937 yards in 14 playoff games (roughly 1 season's worth of games). I would argue that if one player puts up nearly identical numbers in the regular season as another puts up in the playoffs, the playoff numbers hold more value.

It's true that team performance plays a large role by providing more opportunities to get those numbers but if a guy plays in a lot of playoff games and puts up really good numbers in those games then doesn't it mean that he is a significant part of why the team is good? So he's part of why he's getting the opportunities to play in more games.

For what it's worth, all but 2 of the 16 guys with more playoff receiving yards than Edelman have played more post season games than him. So it's not just about the number of chances he's had.

(01-23-2017 10:44 AM)pembroke1246 Wrote:  I do believe Antonio Gates will be a first ballot shoe-in.

If I applied my standards, yes, but then Marvin Harrison took a few ballots and Terrell Owens is still waiting and, if you go further back, guys like Tim Brown and Andre Reed had to wait too.

I think Tony Gonzalez will go in on the first ballot because he might be the best tight end ever. Then you'll be looking at Jason Witten and Antonio Gates, who IMHO, are both no-brainers, but I wonder if they won't essentially slow each other down a bit from getting in the hall of fame because they will be a notch below Gonzalez and are both tight ends from the same era.

I have seen people argue that somebody should not be in the HoF due to poor playoff performances so I could see an argument that playoffs do matter more but I could also see it as poor playoff performance can count you out but does not make you get in by itself.

Who knows? I suppose he has enough potential years left to play himself in, but what will the team be like without Brady? I'm just so glad he was drafted by the Patriots, and that Gates was signed by the Chargers. I shudder to think how much better Cribbs would have been had he been drafted by or signed by other than the Browns. The Browns franchise just doesn't ruin players, it destroys them.

(01-23-2017 09:15 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  Ok, so if playoff stats shouldn't be weighted heavier than you're saying a receiver having a regular season around 1000 yards is comparable to Edelman having 937 yards in 14 playoff games (roughly 1 season's worth of games). I would argue that if one player puts up nearly identical numbers in the regular season as another puts up in the playoffs, the playoff numbers hold more value.

It's true that team performance plays a large role by providing more opportunities to get those numbers but if a guy plays in a lot of playoff games and puts up really good numbers in those games then doesn't it mean that he is a significant part of why the team is good? So he's part of why he's getting the opportunities to play in more games.

For what it's worth, all but 2 of the 16 guys with more playoff receiving yards than Edelman have played more post season games than him. So it's not just about the number of chances he's had.

If your saying all other things being equal I'll agree. I just don't think Edelman has been good enough for long enough for this to even be a consideration.

Julian hasn't yet been to a Pro Bowl. If he's not getting that recognition, he won't get elected to the Hall of Fame. All Hall of Famers have been Pro Bowl regulars.

Look at Irving Fryar - 19th in career receiving yards, went to 5 Pro Bowls, but never as a starter, no Hall of Fame. He had 12,785 yards and 84 touchdowns. Edelman has 4,540 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Yes, Super Bowl wins do help with Hall of Fame credibility, but year-after-year production and recognition is more important.

Even more than Pro Bowl, which is filled by lots of players who are not the best at their positions but are needed to fill out the rosters for injured, skipping, and Super Bowl players, you need to be a consistent All-Pro: that end of year team of the best at each position. I love JE and I want him on my team all day, but he's really not had a HoF career. When they go to award the best receivers of his era, he is not really in the conversation. But he is a perfect fit for Brady and NE.

There is a question for you: would you rather have a career as an vital cog in a multiple Super Bowl winning team or be a Calvin Johnson/AJ Green/Dez Bryant/Odell Beckham type guy who is considered the top at his position, but doesn't win a championship?

I don't think JE would trade careers with those guys.

(01-25-2017 09:10 AM)axeme Wrote:  Even more than Pro Bowl, which is filled by lots of players who are not the best at their positions but are needed to fill out the rosters for injured, skipping, and Super Bowl players, you need to be a consistent All-Pro: that end of year team of the best at each position. I love JE and I want him on my team all day, but he's really not had a HoF career. When they go to award the best receivers of his era, he is not really in the conversation. But he is a perfect fit for Brady and NE.

There is a question for you: would you rather have a career as an vital cog in a multiple Super Bowl winning team or be a Calvin Johnson/AJ Green/Dez Bryant/Odell Beckham type guy who is considered the top at his position, but doesn't win a championship?

I don't think JE would trade careers with those guys.

I don't really believe that JE will get to the HOF, I think Jame Harrison has a chance and deserves to be the second Flash linebacker there - #92 he will certainly get his number retired by the Steelers. But after Sunday and Edelman's catch the two of them now have two of the greatest (as well as game changing ) plays in Super Bowl history to date. Edelman is an outstanding spokesman for Kent football! Congrats Julian!!

(02-07-2017 09:34 AM)OLNWFLSH Wrote:  

(01-25-2017 09:10 AM)axeme Wrote:  Even more than Pro Bowl, which is filled by lots of players who are not the best at their positions but are needed to fill out the rosters for injured, skipping, and Super Bowl players, you need to be a consistent All-Pro: that end of year team of the best at each position. I love JE and I want him on my team all day, but he's really not had a HoF career. When they go to award the best receivers of his era, he is not really in the conversation. But he is a perfect fit for Brady and NE.

There is a question for you: would you rather have a career as an vital cog in a multiple Super Bowl winning team or be a Calvin Johnson/AJ Green/Dez Bryant/Odell Beckham type guy who is considered the top at his position, but doesn't win a championship?

I don't think JE would trade careers with those guys.

I don't really believe that JE will get to the HOF, I think Jame Harrison has a chance and deserves to be the second Flash linebacker there - #92 he will certainly get his number retired by the Steelers. But after Sunday and Edelman's catch the two of them now have two of the greatest (as well as game changing ) plays in Super Bowl history to date. Edelman is an outstanding spokesman for Kent football! Congrats Julian!!

The Steelers don't retire numbers.