Julian Edelman believes the New England Patriots could’ve landed the steal of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Appearing on the Patriots Talk podcast with Tom E. Curran, the legendary receiver shared his biggest takeaway after he attended training camp earlier this summer. Edelman praised second-round running back TreVeyon Henderson, who flashed his explosiveness and scored twice with the soon-to-be Patriots Hall of Famer in attendance.
“TreVeyon Henderson is probably the steal of the draft,” Edelman told Curran on Tuesday. “I think that’s the kind of guy you needed to draft that becomes part of that nucleus with Drake (Maye). That’s how you build your team.
“You build your team through the draft, guys that you want to come in to implement what your identity is,” Edelman continued. “Just from hearing coaches speak about him with his maturity, the way he is as a professional, that’s gonna be really good. If he can go out and have production, everyone’s gonna see how he works, how he is as a person on and off the field. It makes the other guys in the locker room like, ‘Man, that’s why he’s doing this.’ So I think that was my biggest takeaway. He could be a really good weapon.”
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Henderson has been arguably the biggest standout of Patriots training camp. He’s flashed an explosiveness with the ball in his hands, perhaps best depicted by his 100-yard kick return on his first preseason touch. He’s also impressed executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf with his ability to run through contact. That was on display during his touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings.
There’s a real possibility Henderson becomes the team’s best skill-position player.
Edelman is hopeful the selection will serve as course correction.
The Patriots selected Henderson with the 38th overall pick after the Cleveland Browns selected his Ohio State teammate Quinshon Judkins two picks prior. Edelman recalled back to how the Patriots selected Sony Michel with the 31st pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, four picks before the Browns drafted Michel’s college teammate, Nick Chubb.
It proved to be a pivotal draft miss by Bill Belichick as Chubb was named a Pro Bowler four times in his first five seasons. Michel, meanwhile, helped the Patriots win Super Bowl LIII before injuries cut his Patriots tenure short. He didn’t finish his rookie contract in New England and played five NFL seasons.
“Sony, he was insane. He was a really good football player,” Edelman said. “But if you look back on it, we only got like three (years) out of him, you know what I mean? The knees went down. He wasn’t Chubb by any means. Chubb was damn near on the cover of Madden.”
If Henderson does prove to be the “steal of the draft,” there’s reason to believe he could be in the running to be on the cover in the not too distant future.
Also in this episode:
- Are the Patriots trying to shortcut their way to mediocrity?
- Expectations for quarterback Drake Maye
- How long will the rebuild take under head coach Mike Vrabel?
- Efton Chism III comparisons
