New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman played a full 16-game season last season for the first time in three years and only the second time in his career.
Unfortunately, he won't play any games this season.
Leaving last night's preseason game with what was feared to be a torn ACL, Edelman had an MRI on Saturday and the results confirm what was feared. Edelman has a torn ACL and he'll miss all of 2017.
Edelman had a 98/1,106/3 line on 159 targets last season. With Rob Gronkowski missing half of the season last year and the addition of Brandin Cooks this offseason, his target share would have certainly been reduced some in 2017.
While I wasn't necessarily bullish on Brandin Cooks this season, Edelman's injury changes that. With Edelman and Gronk both healthy, the concern was that Cooks might be an inconsistent weekly performer as the other two would still get a significant share of Tom Brady's targets.
Not only does Cooks' fantasy outlook improve, perhaps the biggest winner in terms of fantasy outlook is Chris Hogan. In last night's dress rehearsal against the Lions, Hogan finished with four catches for 70 yards and two scores.
Both Danny Amendola and Malcolm Mitchell benefit as well, but I will move Hogan into my top-50 fantasy wide receivers when I update my preseason rankings later today.
