Buffalo Bills: Tremaine Edmunds ready to make an immediate impact
By Paul Taylor
The start of the new season may be more than three months away, but the Buffalo Bills have already made it clear rookie Tremaine Edmunds will start in Week 1.
Tremaine Edmunds is only just out of his teens, but he appears to already have the football world at his feet. The Buffalo Bills thought enough of him to trade up in this year’s draft to select him with the 16th overall pick, and with good reason.
Everywhere you looked, the pre-draft scouting reports raved about Edmunds. He was compared to Brian Urlacher and rated as a Pro Bowl-caliber talent.
In addition, the linebacker was described as having a unique combination of size, speed and talent, which would make him tough to contain. While there are never any guarantees in the NFL, the Bills have a player capable of lifting their defense to another level in the coming years.
In this respect, the Bills wasted no time in getting Edmunds involved during the first week of OTAs. This was particularly notable on Thursday, during the first practice session open to the media.
As per Matthew Fairburn of Newyorkupstate.com, the 20-year-old took every rep at middle linebacker during Thursday’s practice. Matt Milano played the other linebacker spot in the nickel defense.
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Now of course, it’s one thing to be on the field when no live contact is allowed. Regardless, Edmunds’ still used his imposing frame to make his presence felt during drills.
Plus, it’s imperative for the Danville, Virginia native to get accustomed to the defense and absorb as much information as possible. OTAs are extremely important, as they represent the only time teams can get together to practice, between the end of the previous season and the start of training camp.
Playing in the MIKE position, Edmunds will be expected to call defenses. This is tough enough for a seasoned veteran, never mind a rookie.
In that respect, this speaks volumes about the confidence head coach Sean McDermott must have in the youngster. He will be expected to learn on the fly, while relying on his skill set to overcome any errors or misjudgments.
Edmunds will have seven more OTA session to get more acclimatized to what is expected from him (May 29-31, June 4-5 and June 7-8). Of course, there is no way of knowing for sure how this will play out for him, once the real games begin in September.
WKBW Buffalo’s Joe Buscaglia predicts the 2017 Butkus award finalists will be in the running for NFL defensive rookie of the year. However, for better or worse, what we can say with certainty is he will be smack bang in the middle of the action on the field.
What kind of production are you expecting from Edmunds in 2018? Will he have an immediate impact on the Buffalo Bills’ defense? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.