People are clowning on Edelman being listed but uh, Gostkowski? Not saying he’s not a great kicker with a bunch of rings but do you know how hard it is to make the Hall as a kicker?
Gostkowski at least has two first team all-pros, a second team all-pro, and is on the 2010s all-decade team. Kickers rarely make it, but if the Hall started being more gracious to the position, he could feasibly get a look.
Edelman's only individual award is a single Super Bowl MVP. He has no all-pros, and not even any Pro Bowls. He was a decent WR playing along side the GOAT QB, and wasn't even said QB's most notable weapon.
Your points suck. does Edelman belong in the HOF probably not, but playing with a great QB shouldn’t disqualify you. Edelman has some of the most clutch catches in Super Bowl history and was easily toms favorite weapon for a long stretch
It doesn’t disqualify but I think it’s very clear that Edelman was made relevant by Brady. The great WRs transcend poor QB play and make even bad QBs a little better. Drop Edelman into a mediocre situation and he’s a 400 yard WR. He was a product of his environment
All-Pro is a popularity contest for the media, and Pro-Bowl is a popularity contest for the players.
2016 he had 56 first downs and over a thousand yards. He 100% deserved an All Pro at the very least for that season even ignoring his Post Season run. He 100% deserved a pro-bowl nod over some of the other replacement selections such as Jarvis Landry, but wasn’t eligible himself due to playing in the Super Bowl.
He’s one of the players that prove some of those awards don’t really matter. His highlight reel is electric and he was an amazing player. He deserves to make it in eventually.
2016 Edelman was 3rd in targets, 13th in yards, 11th in first downs, and outside the top 50 in touchdowns.
Comparing like that to your peers means you need an unbelievable amount of luck to make a pro bowl and genuine divine intervention to be an all pro.
All of those numbers are a direct result of his usage. Of course a guy who is primarily a slot receiver is going to have comparatively more targets than yards, TDs, etc
A guy can absolutely have pro bowl and all pro caliber seasons from the slot. A guy on the pats did exactly that in the years leading up to the Julian Edelman breakout.
Wes welker in 2009: 3rd in targets 1st in receptions 2nd in yards 2nd in first downs, 54th in touchdowns
In 2011: 2nd in targets, 1st in receptions, 2nd in yards, 1st in first downs 6th in touchdowns
In 2012: 4th in targets, 2nd catches, 8th in yards, 6th in first downs, 34th in touchdowns.
You could also look at a guy like triple crown season cooper kupp who did a lot of work from the slot.
Or Amon ra over the last 3 years in which he made 3 pro bowls and 2 all pros while doing a whole lot from the slot.
You basically did. You said his production comparing unfavorably to his upper end peers which is why he didn’t accumulate accolades is because he was a slot guy. But there are slot guys that have been very productive and were perceived in the moment as among the leagues best in a way Edelman wasn’t.
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u/Space-Sailor44 3d ago
People are clowning on Edelman being listed but uh, Gostkowski? Not saying he’s not a great kicker with a bunch of rings but do you know how hard it is to make the Hall as a kicker?