The Steelers selected Terrell Edmunds, safety from Virginia Tech, with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. The move addressed the defense, adding a quick and versatile player who played as a safety both in the box and back as the deep defender for the Hokies.
Edmunds is the older brother of Tremaine Edmunds, the linebacker who was the 16th overall pick by the Bills, and boasts athletic talent that allowed Virginia Tech to place him all over the field.
Edmunds placed seventh among safeties with a 4.47 time in the 40-yard dash. That tied him with Derwin James of Florida State, who was selected by the Chargers as the 17th pick of the draft and was the second safety picked. 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 numbers suggest explosiveness, which is a key trait to a player you want to defend over the middle. With the Steelers placing an emphasis on defending the pass and the run from sub packages, Edmunds is a safety who can do both.
Edmunds checked into the combine at 6-foot-1, 217 pounds, which is the size you want for a safety. 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.
But with Ronnie Harrison, Jessie Bates and Justin Reid, all safeties that both Dale Lolley and myself had graded higher than Edmunds, still available, this pick brings intrigue as to what Kevin Colbert sees in Edmunds.
One of the reasons Edmunds wasn't graded as high as other prospects was because of how uncomfortable he looked at times in coverage. His instincts were not always the best at recognizing and reacting to routes, which prevented him from making a play on the ball in some situations.
Here he is against West Virginia last year, playing deep safety in the middle of the field. The receiver basically runs a delayed slant-and-go, which gets Edmunds to bite up on an underneath route to open the deep middle of the field. Edmunds takes the bait and gives up the big play:
That was my biggest knock on Edmunds' college tape, as there were many times he was in the area of the play, but looked too unsure to make the jump on the ball.
But what lights up in his play is how he performs when he recognizes what his opponents are doing. When Edmunds just plays and isn't thinking as much, you can see that explosiveness show up on the field. Take this interception he had against Duke as an example when he has to turn completely around and get to top speed very quickly to recover and help against the deep ball.
Edmunds looked like he was in a deep half assignment and the quarterback read that the middle of the field was open. When Edmunds saw the streaking receiver in the middle, he flipped his hips, got into a full sprint to get in front of the receiver, and made the interception look as if he was the intended target:
This is where Edmunds made his stock rise among safeties in this draft class. His ability to fly about the field and change directions comfortably while staying around his man is one which can be put to use quickly in the NFL if he can play within himself more consistently.
The other aspect to his ability is that he's no stranger to man coverage, which the Steelers are starting to employ more. Here he is in that same West Virginia game covering a crossing route and making a well-timed jump on the ball to swat the pass away:
But versatility is going to be what the Steelers want from Edmunds, and that is because of how his coverage skills combine with those of him being a tackler. While he does look uncomfortable in coverage at times, the opposite was often the case when asked to come up and help against the run.
Here he is playing seven yards off the line of scrimmage and being able to read the correct hole to protect, approach the running back, and make a solid hit where he follows through by wrapping and putting down the back for a limited gain:
Edmunds can line up and play coverage deep, but can also play as that extra hybrid linebacker on the field when the defense needs more defensive backs but is cautious about the opponent's chances of running the ball.
One thing that stands out on his run support tape is that he can be assigned to help in the middle of the defensive front or help contain on the edge. Edmunds was very much a leader for Virginia Tech in that he called the signals for his team and very rarely missed an assignment.
Here he lines up against Boston College as the lone man in the box who is outside of the left defensive end. He's most likely there to cover the tight end, but when the run play comes directly at him, he doesn't hesitate to step up and move laterally to get to the outside and keep the run to a minimal gain:
Edmunds' biggest strength is his ability to get moving quickly and move about laterally. The Steelers had been taken apart by teams that used stretch runs to force their linebackers and safeties to be able to scrape about the line of scrimmage. If Edmunds can be integrated into the defense in his rookie year, his burst and athleticism could be a significant boost to that end.
But the real questions remain as to why the Steelers chose Edmunds over the other safeties available. Reid is the fastest of the group as he boasts a 4.40 40-yard dash and is arguably the best pure centerfield safety of this class. Harrison is another hybrid safety/linebacker type of athlete who didn't perform as well as Edmunds in the combine, but always looked comfortable playing within Alabama's defense.
Of course, Harrison was playing next to Minkah Fitzpatrick that whole time.
Bates is another centerfielder who looked to play the part of what the Steelers might have been looking for in the first round. Both Sean Davis and Morgan Burnett are familiar with, and look confident as, strong safeties. While the Steelers did announce that Burnett would start OTA's as a free safety, it made sense if the team would add a pure free safety type in the draft.
However, with the status of inside linebacker up in the air, and the Steelers needing more players who can line up in the box as solid coverage men to help against the run, more hybrid safeties appear to be the path they have chosen, at least for now.