Edelman's success shouldn't detract from Amendola

It's been a good two weeks for Julian Edelman and Julian Edelman fantasy owners alike.

The fifth year receiver followed up last week's 9 catch, 110 yard, 2 touchdown performance with another big game in yesterday's narrow win over Houston. Once again, Edelman caught 9 passes, this time for 101 yards, with 7 of those catches going for first downs. It was an instrumental performance for an offense that had to make up plenty of ground in the second half. It was also a lucrative one, as Edelman's 70th catch triggered a $250,000 incentive in his contract.

Edelman's continued emergence as one of Tom Brady's go-to guys was one of the biggest stories in the aftermath of yesterday's win. Many pointed out that the former Kent State quarterback's receiving numbers (70 catches, 711 yards, 4 touchdowns) are remarkable close to that of Wes Welker (68 catches, 717 yards, 9 touchdowns), with the touchdown disparity merely the result of Welker getting more red zone opportunities in Denver's record setting offense. Others laughed at Tom Brady's nicknaming the 5'10" Edelman "Minitron."

Others turned the conversation to how Edelman seems to have become the replacement for Wes Welker that Danny Amendola was signed to be. Amendola has been outproduced by Edelman for nearly all of the season, even since returning from a groin injury, at a fraction of the cost. Some have even gone as far as to wonder why the Patriots even signed Amendola in the first place when they had a capable slot replacement in house in Edelman.

Simply put, that is an extremely short-sighted analysis that disregards the extenuating circumstances surrounding Amendola's 2013 season. Impatient fans might not want to hear it, but it's incredibly difficult to fully judge Amendola this year due to missed time.

Lets rewind back to the spring of 2013 when Amendola was signed. There were certainly reasons to be upset about Wes Welker leaving, just as they were justified concerns about Amendola's injury history. However, there was no denying that Amendola had been an excellent, productive football player whenever healthy, despite playing on a mediocre-to-pitful Rams offense with an unproven quarterback in Sam Bradford. The guy had proven he could play.

That ability did not leave him when he came to New England. Amendola looked like a Welker clone throughout training camp and the preseason, with he and Tom Brady building chemistry with every rep. He did nothing in August to suggest that anything less than steady, reliable production and toughness from the slot was upcoming. He then went out and showed just what he was capable of in Week One, catching 10 balls for 104 yards, including several incredible catches for clutch first downs on the game winning drive.

Unfortunately, much of that Week One performance came while playing through a painful groin injury. There were reports following the game that the muscle had torn completely from the bone, leading to fears that significant surgery could be on the way. Amendola opted to rehab and gut it out, missing the next three games before returning in Week 5, when he was slowly eased back into the mix in a loss to Cincinnati. His return would be short lived, however, as he sustained a concussion the next week, causing him to miss yet another game.

Amendola now hasn't missed a game since Week Seven's loss to the Jets, but the damage had already been done. Between limited snaps in Week 5 and having to leave Week 6's win over the Saints with a concussion, Amendola had only played one full game in the season's first half.  During that time, he had missed a lot of valuable time playing with Tom Brady, both in practice and in games.

During that time, someone else had to step up and play that role. That someone quickly became Julian Edelman, who spent most of the season's first half as Tom Brady's only receiver with any professional experience. Brady essentially was forced to develop chemistry with Edelman, who had previously been a nice complementary piece in a star-studded offense. Despite having an injury history almost as alarming as Amendola's, it was Edelman who was out there in every practice and every game, week-after-week, building chemistry with Brady.

There's no way to expect Amendola, even if he were fully healthy, to have better chemistry with Brady than a guy playing with him every week like Edelman has. Expecting him to do so while still playing through a groin issue is borderline lunacy. Given the circumstances, it's completely natural for Brady to feel more comfortable throwing to Minitron than Amendola. It's not indictment of Amendola at all, who caught all five of his targets yesterday for 54 yards and shredded the Steelers last month with 4 catches for 122 yards and touchdown.

Perhaps injuries could be opening up another opportunity for Amendola to pick up more targets. One of Amendola's selling points as a free agent replacement for Welker was that he had more versatility and explosiveness to play on the outside as well as the slot. With Aaron Dobson battling a foot injury and Kenbrell Thompkins leaving yesterday's game with a hip problem, perhaps Amendola could wind up taking the majority of those vacant snaps at the "X" position.

However, one thing is clear. The Patriots needed someone to step up when Amendola got hurt Week One. Julian Edelman did so, has been everything they could have asked for and more, and deserved to be celebrated for doing so. That doesn't mean that Amendola is a bad player or that he won't have opportunities to contribute going forward. It's time to praise Edelman, but extremely premature to bury Amendola's Patriots career after three months.