Tremaine Edmunds 2018 NFL Draft Profile

Tremaine Edmunds 2018 NFL Draft Profile

When you have a father who played professional sports, there often seems to be two paths. You either burn out trying to make a name for yourself or rise to the challenge and show you are just as worthy to play in the NFL. Tremaine Edmunds has shown the latter, showing he deserves to be another Edmunds in the NFL. He will join not only his father (retired from the league), but his brother Trey as well who is currently a member of the New Orleans Saints.

In his three years as a Hokie, Edmunds was named second-team All-ACC in 2016, as well as first-team All-ACC and third-team All-American in 2017. He has been impressing scouts all season, leading the team in tackles with 109, pairing that with 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. His dominance on the field this year lead to him being a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the top linebacker in the country. Taking full advantage of his length and range, he compiled 215 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks over his final two years in college.

Strengths

Lengthy frame hides his weight well, and has room to gain weight to become more imposing;

Excellent quickness for his size;

Good footwork helps him track the width of the field;

Rangy athleticism leads to unconventional tackling opportunities;

Once he gets his hands on you, he is great at finishing the tackle;

Size and speed allows him to match up with most tight ends and running backs;

Disruptive as an edge rusher, using quickness and burst to get into backfield.

Weaknesses

Relies on ability too often, lacking instinct;

Will be caught in over-pursuit, leaving running back with an open lane;

Gets too excited too soon, attacking a hole without diagnosing the play;

Will fall into spurts of bad form, using athleticism to make play instead of technique;

Needs to gain strength for edge rushing and tackling ability to sustain at next level;

Will misread play, failing to see what the offense is running.

NFL Comparison: Demario Davis

Projection: Early to mid first round, in the 10 to 15 range.

Bottom Line

Edmunds won’t be the first defensive end or outside linebacker off the board, but he won’t have to wait long to hear his name called either. He has the potential to be an incredibly disruptive force, with the speed and size to succeed as a linebacker or defensive end. With a couple years in the weight room and time spent in the film room, it wouldn’t be crazy to look back at Edmunds in five years and wonder how he wasn’t taken earlier in the draft, as he has the most upside of any prospect at the linebacker position this year.