As A Hall Of Fame Receiver Steps Down, Can A Guy Living In The Shadows Final Breakout?

Julian Edelman has retired from football for the time being. There was speculation that Edelman would end up on the injured reserve and miss a minimum half the season. The question now comes to who's the next at the slot receiver. Will it be Agholor, Bourne, Meyers, Harry?

Those four are all very good options but I am going with a receiver who has been used similarly to Edelman during his first four years. I am talking about slot receiver and return specialist Gunner Olszewski.

From 2009 to 2012, Edelman had 69 catches with 37 coming in 2009. Edelman had 4 catches in 2010 and 7 in 2011. Over that span Edelman had 714 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Over 2019 and 2020 being buried in the depth chart, Gunner Olszewski has caught 7 of 9 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. Compare that to Edelman's 2010 & 2011 seasons. 

Over those two years, Edelman was targeted 23 times, catching 12 passes for 120 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Edelman's first two seasons, he rushed 4 times for 19 yards. Olszewski rushed 5 times for 23 yards.

Over Edelman's first two years, he returned 11 kickoffs for 241 yards. He also returned 27 punts for 384 yards and a touchdown.

In his two years, Gunner has returned 40 punts for 525 yards and 1 touchdown. In his only year of kickoff return duties, Gunner returned 18 balls for 418 yards.

Gunner played on defense in the 2019 preseason but has never been needed during the regular season or playoffs. Edelman in his third and fourth year had a combined 20 tackles, as the Patriots didn't know what they were going to do with him.

After the 2012 season, Edelman was almost signed by the New York Giants because he was deemed expendable. Gunner Olszewski was almost cut in 2019 but the Patriots realized he would never make it to the practice squad and changed their minds.

Both Edelman and Olszewski came into the league having played different positions in college. Edelman was a quarterback at Kent State and Olszewski was a D2 cornerback.

There was a lot of talk about how much Gunner had improved in August of 2020. And before anyone says anything, the Patriots best receiver Jakobi Meyers was redshirted until after week 5. So it doesn't matter if he was the most improved, it matters if Bill let him play.

Stephon Gilmore said the following of Olszewski at the end of August in a conference call. “He’s definitely gotten better. I think he’s gotten stronger, gotten quicker. The longer you’re in that offense the better, so he has definitely taken a step from last year. Competing against him, you know he’s going to go hard every snap. That’s one thing about him, he’s very fearless, he doesn’t care. That’s the way you have to be to be a good receiver in this league.”

During a conference call in August head coach Bill Belichick said, “His overall background, knowledge, understanding of being a professional athlete, training, some of his fundamental athletic skills – he’s refined those quite a bit. And he’s much, much, much further ahead from where he was last year.”

In the same conference call Belichick also said, “Gunner’s improved tremendously – again, both physically and from a football standpoint, he’s a smart kid. He works extremely hard. He’s tough. He’s very, very competitive. He’s learned how to do a lot of different things for us, and he continues to work on things that will expand his opportunities. So, it’ll be interesting to watch him take advantage or try to take advantage of those opportunities, and watch him play and see how all that is coming together.”

On August 25th of 2020, Gunner Olszewski had another of a string of good practices for the month. That day he reportedly made a highlight reel catch taking the ball from Jonathan Jones.

CBS Sports Boston wrote, "It was merely the latest instance of Gunner standing out, something that’s been noticeable throughout these dog days of summer."

All thought out the camp in August there was talk that Gunner was the most improved receiver in camp. Olszewski like the other sophomores missed out on rookie training camp in 2020. Something in a normal year, they would've gotten a chance to get extra time away from the veterans with the offense. 

Even though Olszewski wasn't played much in 2020, he talked in August about how he was able to improve.

WEEI Ryan Hannable quoted Olszewski in August saying, "I was around here – lifting weights, ran conditioning. All the stuff that was given to us by the Patriots strength staff and I caught some footballs. I just kind of did what I thought was necessary to do and what the Patriots gave me. It really wasn’t a lot of thinking on my part. Just doing what I was told. Staying with it day in and day out.

I know that coronavirus is tough on everybody and stuff, but I liked this offseason more than I liked the last offseason. We were wasting our time – rookies coming into the league are wasting your time running 40-yard dashes and seeing how many times you can bench 225. I mean, this offseason I knew what I was doing so it was more fun to just get in shape and what not."

Olszewski is not buried behind some of the other players on the depth chart in 2021. With Edelman retired, there is a clear opportunity to take the number one slot position. Jakobi Meyers should still be in competition for the Z receiver and with Harry showing he's not an X receiver, that spot is up for grabs. Expect a grueling competition.

The Patriots are bound to use more 13 and 14 personnel sets in 2021. Which means the receivers could still get hindered behind other players. However Gunner's path seems to be following Edelman's, now in year three can he grab the brass ring that Edelman has just set down.