Julian Edelman was the hottest waiver wire option this week after Danny Amendola (groin) was set to miss last night's game against the Jets. Needless to say, he lived up to the hype by catching 13 receptions for 78 yards. A touchdown would have been nice for sure. Especially after he secured 2 in Week One. However, PPR leaguers are flying high this morning. Non-PPR owners? Well, this is just another reason to get the reception machine going for 2014.
What did I see after analyzing the rest of the Patriots skill players? It was a night most Tom Brady owners would like to forget. Divisional games are strange. You really don't know what to expect. We saw that last night after Brady went 19-of-39 passing for a mere 185 yards and 1 touchdown. No, that's not an error. 1 touchdown. Rookie Aaron Dobson, a high dynasty pick this summer, was the lone scorer on a team that has only scored 3 passing touchdowns in 2 games. That Pats are starting to show they really need Rob Gronkowski back.
As for last week's bomb Kenbrell Thompkins? Lets just say we're starting to see why he didn't get drafted in April. He caught 2 passes for 47 yards, but is continuing to show bad field awareness and needs the ball thrown right to his numbers to make a catch. I'm afraid he isn't going to last much longer on most owners' rosters. He isn't living up to the preseason hype machine.
For Danny Amendola owners, the news is getting worse. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport tweeted before the game that Amendola could miss the next 2-6 weeks with that groin injury. Think the Patriots want Wes Welker back? Edelman looks like he'll be more than a one-week flier.
I almost forgot that the Jets played last night as well.
Geno Smith did nothing to help his team, even though they only lost by 3 points. He threw 3 picks, held onto the ball for far too long and made some really bad decisions. Smith will continue to show why he slipped out of the first round of the draft. The lone bright spot for the Jets, if you want to call it that, was Stephen Hill. Hill upped his reception total to 10 after catching 4 passes for 86 yards. He also lost a fumble in the first quarter, but he's beginning to show that maybe he's worth rostering after all. While I wouldn't call him an every-week starter due to his surroundings, I will definitely be adding Hill to my waiver wire list next week.
All in all, this was a pretty bad game for both offenses. The Jets lack of playmakers and a competent running game will plague them for most of the year. The Patriots should get better once Gronkowski and Amendola came back from injuries. But until then, Brady doesn't seem like he's going to be looking like the Brady of old anytime soon.
