The New England Patriots lost a leader last night when WR Julian Edelman suffered a complete tear of his ACL. He is lost for the entire 2017 season. Let's take a look at my quick fantasy analysis from Friday night when the injury first happened...

Fri Aug 25, 2017 --from FFMastermind.com

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the New England Patriots suspect WR Julian Edelman (knee) tore his ACL, but do not definitely know, per source. He will undergo an MRI on Saturday to determine the full extent of his injury.

Mike's View: This is not good news. Usually, non-contact injuries are really bad, and this would cost WR Julian Edelman (knee) the entire season. You must take Edelman off your draft board completely if you are drafting this weekend. Overall, QB Tom Brady spreads it around so much that he really wouldn't see a down-tick in his projections. WR Brandin Cooks would likely see more targets, but WR Chris Hogan would be the primary benefactor, and would climb up likely into the top 50 WRs, if not higher. TE Rob Gronkowski would also likely see more targets, but he's already at #1. We'll keep you up to date with the latest information on this situation as it breaks.

Sat Aug 26, 2017 --from FFMastermind.com

MMQB's Albert Breer reports the fears in New England have been confirmed via MRI that Patriots WR Julian Edelman (torn ACL) has a complete ACL tear in his right knee, per source. He is lost for the season.

Mike's View: Terrible news. We will remove WR Julian Edelman (torn ACL) from our rankings and move both WR Chris Hogan and WR Danny Amendola up accordingly. We will also take a second look at WR Brandin Cooks. WR Malcolm Mitchell (knee) could also see more targets when healthy. This injury could also mean more looks for RB James White in the short passing game.

Final Analysis: You can remove Edelman from your draft boards, while WR Chris Hogan becomes an intriguing #4 fantasy WR to target in your draft, and WR Danny Amendola becomes an interesting #5 WR. WR Malcolm Mitchell (knee) needs to show he's healthy before he's given serious fantasy consideration in late summer drafts, something that does not seam to be happening right now. Both RB James White and WR Brandin Cooks could see a bump up in their production, meaning both could go sooner in fantasy drafts due to Edelman's loss. Bottom Line: There is plenty of talent in New England to make up for this loss, so QB Tom Brady's and TE Rob Gronkowski's fantasy values remain intact. The team could move on from Edelman in 2017 without really missing a beat.

End.