Julian Edelman puts Keenan Allen among his top 3 WRs in the NFL

Game recognizes game.

One of my favorite things in NFL media is the NFL Top-100 list that is voted on by the actual players. It’s always a good bit different from the same lists we get from the media and it’s even more insane when photos of individual ballots are revealed on social media. Each player usually votes on a top 10 and then the votes are tallied and turned into a top 100. Some of these top 10 ballots are absolutely wild, but you have to respect them since it’s coming essentially from the horse’s mouth.

At any rate, let’s get to the actual topic of this post.

Former Patriots wide receiver and Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman recently made an appearance on the I Am Athlete podcast which is hosted by former NFLers Brandon Marshall and Adam “Pacman” Jones. After discussing several topics, including Edelman’s desire to potentially un-retire following a year off from the sport, the group began to discuss the top three receivers in the NFL heading into this upcoming season. When it came to Edelman’s turn, he doled out his top three as Davante Adams, Keenan Allen, and Cooper.

Edelman went on to expand his reasoning for placing Allen at number two on his list:

“I love Keenan Allen because his release game. I would always watch his releases. He has that crossover release. And then at the top of his route, there’s a lot of basketball-type s***. It’s like a crossover at the line of scrimmage. Foot fire. And they can get guys going and get them out of bounds and split their hips, he does that real well. He’s always not coverable.”

If there’s a common theme between all three of Edelman’s picks, it’s that they are receivers who are more known for being some of the best-overall route runners in the NFL as opposed to being among the most physically dominant of pass-catchers. Allen and Adams have long been attached at the hip when it comes to their savviness on the field and Kupp should certainly now be in that same tier after the incredible season he just came off of.

Other receivers that were thrown out amongst the group included Tyreek Hill and Ja’Marr Chase. Overall it was a very enlightening conversation between a group of long-time NFL stars and the NBA’s Nick Young.

If you want to check out the entire show, you can view on Youtube right here.