Tremaine Edwmunds (1 Viewer)

Head Coach Sean McDermott is aggressively taking 16th overall pick Tremaine Edmunds under his wing in an effort to make sure that he has his newest star LB ready to roll when the team takes the field for training camp.

By all accounts out of Buffalo, Edmunds is going to be lining up as the MIKE, meaning he’s going to have to assume a lot of responsibility. Edmunds and the staff have already started working hard to ensure that transition goes smoothly, as Edmunds was observed working on signals and calls while the rest of his position-mates had moved on to special teams drills.

That’s a promising sign for Buffalo, as there was some consideration from teams prior to the Draft that Edmunds would get looks as a rush LB as well. That appears not to be the case here in Buffalo, and that’s a very good thing.

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The Claymaker said:

Obviously from May to September anything can change, but right now the Buffalo coaching staff is saying all the right things for FF owners. Smith went higher in all my drafts and I see his road to being a stud FF player being much more difficult. But everyone has an opinion at this point and the ones on here don’t mean a thing. I’m glad I got him in both my leagues and look forward to a long studly FF career. 

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 ROOKIE LB EDMUNDS DRAWING HIGH PRAISE FROM BILLS VETS

Lorenzo Alexander is getting set for his 12th season in the NFL and the Bills veteran linebacker has seen plenty of young prospects break into the league. But after just three days of Organized Team Activity, Alexander likes what he’s seen from Bills first round draft pick Tremaine Edmunds.

“I would be surprised if he’s not an all-pro player in the next two, three years,” Alexander said Thursday on the show. “I would be surprised, really. Just his athleticism and the way he's handling the information, I would be really surprised if he's not that next great linebacker in his era, like that Luke Kuechly-type.”

The Bills have already put Edmunds with the starters on defense and have started sending in the defensive play calls for him to relay to his teammates on the field.  And Alexander admits it’s a big responsibility to put on a rookie.

“It’s a lot” Alexander says. “He's the mike. He’s the quarterback of the defense. So, he’s making the calls, making the checks if somebody's out of alignment. Eventually, he’ll go on to where he can correct people. But right now, I'm trying to help him as much as I can.”

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Preston Brown started 62 games at linebacker over the last four years but signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in the offseason, leaving a vacant spot for the rookie in the middle. Cornerback Tre'Davious White, an impact first-year starter in 2017, raved about Edmunds on Good Morning Football (h/t Dominic LoVallo of the team's official website):

"This is an alpha-male here. The guy goes sideline to sideline, he's a 4.4 guy. He has tremendous range, athleticism and his knowledge of the game is next to none. I feel like by training camp, he's going to be probably one of the best young linebackers in this league. This guy, since the first day he got here, he's commanded the huddle on the defensive side of the ball. And you can tell by OTAs and the offseason that he's been getting tremendously comfortable in the playbook."

Just last year, White was in Edmunds' shoes, a first-round pick with high expectations.

Based on White's assessment, Edmunds has already shown traits coaches want in their quarterback of the defense, which include leadership skills and a strong understanding of schemes. McDermott may utilize Edmunds to strengthen the pass rush if Shaq Lawson and Jerry Hughes struggle to apply pressure up front.

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