Second and third-year NFL players ready to break out in 2019

#12 Tremaine Edmunds

When I put out my big board ahead of the 2018 NFL draft, I had Edmunds as my seventh overall prospect because of the sky-high potential I saw in him. However, I thought he was quite far from being a finished product. At Virginia Tech he ran himself into trouble at times and found himself on the wrong side of the trash, as well as getting his eyes caught in the backfield instead of reading his keys at times.

That’s why I was encouraged when he had a really strong under-the-radar rookie campaign with 121 tackles, five of them for loss, two INTs, 12 pass break-ups and a couple of sacks at MIKE backer. Edmunds’ athleticism and closing speed are off the charts. He also has unique size for the position at 6’5”, 250+ pounds with 34.5-inch arms and mid-4.5 speed. The young man is perfect for Sean McDermott’s zone-heavy defense, where he can be used as that Tampa-2 middle linebacker with crazy ability to carry guys down the seams and get his hands on balls thrown over his head because of how long he is.

At VT he actually covered guys in the slot one-on-one at times. I was also pleased to see some growth out of him to play under more balance, not overrunning plays and sniffing out bootlegs on the backside, plus then trusting his athleticism to turn his head and find crossers. I will continue to say this – that Bills defense can be one of the elite units in the entire league if only Josh Allen and company can take some pressure off them. With who they already have combined with 9th overall pick Ed Oliver out of Houston they are legit. I truly believe Edmunds could become a transcendent player if he ever reaches his ceiling and he only turned 21 a little more than a week ago.