I promise this will be the last post on Julian Edelman. I won’t mention his name again until August. Promise.
We all agree that he is a slow, clumsy journeyman with little playmaking ability. I don’t think anyone would argue that he offers very little in terms of after-the-catch skills.
But in fairness, I should point out that of the 31 active players with at least 75 career punt returns, Edelman has the highest average.
Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles have a lot more quickness and niftiness than Edelman, but they both average under 9 yards on punt returns. Despite his limited ability, Edelman is up at 12.3.
This speaks volumes, I guess, about the great blocking ability set up by the rest of the New England punt-return teams.
I guess.
| CAREER PUNT RETURN LEADERS | |
|---|---|
| Player | Avg |
| Julian Edelman | 12.3 |
| Devin Hester | 12.3 |
| Dexter McCluster | 12.1 |
| Ted Ginn | 11.2 |
| Josh Cribbs | 11.1 |
| Santana Moss | 10.8 |
| Eddie Royal | 10.7 |
| Danny Amendola | 10.5 |
| Eric Weems | 10.4 |
| Patrick Peterson | 10.3 |
| Marcus Sherels | 10.3 |
| Davone Bess | 10.2 |
| Jacoby Jones | 10.2 |
| Pacman Jones | 10.1 |
| Leon Washington | 10.0 |
| Wes Welker | 9.9 |
| DeSean Jackson | 9.9 |
| Brandon Tate | 9.8 |
| Nate Burleson | 9.8 |
| Javier Arenas | 9.7 |
| Darius Reynaud | 9.7 |
| Micheal Spurlock | 9.6 |
| Antonio Brown | 9.5 |
| Jim Leonhard | 9.3 |
| Trindon Holliday | 9.3 |
| Steve Smith | 9.3 |
| Captain Munnerlyn | 9.0 |
| Darren Sproles | 8.2 |
| Charles Woodson | 8.1 |
| Reggie Bush | 7.9 |
| Chris Carr | 7.3 |
—Ian Allan