Another preseason game and another devastating injury to a key fantasy producer.  We’ll work under the notion that Julian Edelman’s reported knee injury is indeed the dreaded torn ACL, as being reported by ESPN’s Adam Shefter.


Fantasy players and sports followers in general, knows what it means when those three letters are connected in caps: ACL= season over. That is what the New England Patriots are facing, as they await the results from a Saturday MRI. In what it considered the biggest draft weekend of the season, you just wonder how many people called out his name as their 5th or 6th round pick, only to hear that he was carted off the field moments later. 

 

Edelman was being drafted too high for our liking to begin with, and Brandin Cooks was that player you either loved or hated for this incoming season. We loved him. Even more now. We had Cooks as the #16 wr in standard leagues heading into the third pres-season game. With this latest development, Cooks will be moving into the top 10 and should be drafted as a WR1 for your fantasy team. He is clearly the number one option for Tom Brady and the Patriots, and there’s no reason he can’t put up similar numbers to last season, when he finished as the ninth best fantasy wide receiver in standard leagues. 

 

As for other Patriots players….Chris Hogan should immediately enter the conversation and a low-end WR3 with a little higher upside. Hogan played 37% of his snaps from the slot last season, so we know he can handle that role. However, I do believe that he’s best utilized on the outside, which is where Danny Amendola comes in. We know that Bill Belichick will rotate all his players and have them line up in different spots, but it’s very possible that we could see a lot of Amendola manning the slot, while Hogan joins Cooks on the outside. I wouldn’t get too excited about targeting Amendola in your drafts, but he is someone that becomes relevant now and worth a late-round flier. Malcolm Mitchell could make some noise at some point, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field so far in camp. 

 

Rob Gronkowski’s value doesn’t change at all for me and neither does Tom Brady’s. They’re both #2 at their position and will remain there despite the loss of Edelman. Perhaps we could see a little more of Dwayne Allen than expected, but he’s still not on my draft radar.

The running backs is where it could get interesting. James White, Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead, all could see some time in the slot as well. Perhaps this injury helps Belichick figure out what he’s going to do with all those bodies in the backfield. Unfortunately, we won’t have much clarity on that situation until after fantasy drafts have been completed. One thing we should remember, is that with the Bill Belicheck and the New England Patriots, he’s not going to do what is expected. For all we know, he’s on the phones right now about to trade Kony Ealy for a another stud receiver. Would you be surprised? I wouldn’t.  

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