While plenty of focus has been placed on Virginia Tech's star linebacker, Tremaine Edmunds, for his freakish combination of size, speed and talent as an inside linebacker who will go early in the first round, his older brother, Terrell Edmunds, could end up being an answer at the safety position for teams looking in the second round of the draft.
In Carter's Classroom we have analyzed first-round safeties who could be available for the Steelers such as Stanford's Justin Reid and Alabama's Ronnie Harrison, but we also recognize the Steelers could still add depth at the position with a pick in the second or third rounds. The latter category includes the already-studied Jessie Bates from Wake Forest, but we add to it with a look at the faster and more experienced Edmunds.
Edmunds is solidly built to play either free or strong safety positions in the NFL at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. In three seasons at Virginia Tech, he had 196 tackles, 14 passes defensed and six interceptions before declaring for the NFL Draft as a junior.
Where Edmunds shined was in his range of coverage around the field. He could line up in the middle of the field and his burst would allow him to cover impressive distances when he saw his assignment and felt comfortable enough to be aggressive.
Here he lines up over the middle of the field and runs with a crossing route to get a pass defensed by allowing the receiver to cross his face and then breaking on his route to make the play. When Edmunds locks onto his assignment, he can use his speed to create tight passing windows like this:
That speed was highlighted in his NFL Scouting Combine performance when he placed seventh among safeties with a 4.47 time in the 40-yard dash, tying him with Derwin James of Florida State, who projects to be one of the first ten players selected this year. Edmunds stood out as he had the best performances in both the vertical and broad jumps, posting 41.5 inches and 134 inches, respectively.
Those show that when he's locked in, his athleticism becomes a major asset to a defense.
But now and again, Edmunds lost that aggressiveness he flashed and gave up plays which he was in position to make because he looked uncomfortable.
Take this situation when he was in backed-off man coverage in the red zone as West Virginia used an underneath route to serve as a screen between Edmunds and his assigned receiver. Though Edmunds stayed in the play, he never felt comfortable enough to make a play on the ball and gave up the score:
As usual, safeties are going to be asked to play a lot of zone coverage to protect different spots on the field. Edmunds' speed makes him a prime candidate as a potential centerfield safety who could cover big spaces. The problems he encountered in those moments, however, were sometimes locating the ball and staying within himself to be able to make a solid play.
Watch here how he realizes the play is behind him, and while he turns his hips smoothly, he outruns his position and takes himself out of the play:
Moments like this happened a little too often for Edmunds to be a definite high pick as a safety, but plenty of those moments fall back on instinctual plays and growing into the role. Because of his athleticism, his ceiling is pretty high as a defensive back and the times when he did lock in on his job showed how dangerous of a player he could be.
Here he is with his eyes in the backfield and reading the quarterback on a deep throw over the middle of the field. Edmunds shuffles his way over to get under the pass and make a great play to attack the ball at its highest point and nab the interception:
But where Edmunds was at his best was when his speed could be shown off as he accelerated to cover deep down the field, even when receivers had already run past him. Watch how he jumps over to play half of the field and how the receiver cuts through the middle of the defense to split the safeties. Edmunds recognizes it and recovers.
Making up these kinds of distances over the middle of the defense is the key trait you want to see from your safety:
Edmunds not only catches up to the play, he gets in front of the receiver to make the interception and get a return to change field position.
That kind of makeup speed turns heads, but Edmunds is going to come with the burden of still learning to become more comfortable in how he uses that speed and plays different routes.
Projections on where he gets drafted range from the second to the fourth round, but will ultimately be impacted by how fast safeties are selected. If the Steelers haven't selected a safety by the second round and Bates is unavailable, Edmunds might be their man.
