Buffalo Bills: Predicting the team awards for the 2020 season
By Daniel Bruce
Defensive Player of the Year: LB Tremaine Edmunds
Honorable Mentions: CB Tre’Davious White, DT Ed Oliver, DE Jerry Hughes
Unseating Tre’Davious White as the Bills Defensive Player of the Year is no easy task but if there’s one player who could do it next season it would be Edmunds.
Heading into his third-year in the NFL, Edmunds is just 22-years-old fresh off his first Pro Bowl appearance. One of the better young linebackers in the league, Edmunds and his running mate Matt Milano are a formidable duo in the middle of the Bills nickel defense.
In 2019 Edmunds had 115 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 interception and 9 passes defended which ranked 5th among all qualified linebackers. In McDermott’s defense linebackers have to be able to cover and that is Edmund’s strength, at 6’5″ quarterbacks have loads of trouble completing passes over him as he can almost get to any ball.
Benjamin Solak of The Draft Network is especially high on Edmunds, praising his “impact plays”:
"“In the first two seasons of his career, Buffalo LB Tremaine Edmunds is making impact plays—especially in coverage. Since 2000, only 12 linebackers have generated more interceptions in their first two seasons as pros; only one has more passes defended”"
Amazing in coverage, he has the ability to intercept passes and thrives in defending passes, one of the best linebackers at that aspect of the game.
Despite making a Pro Bowl, Edmunds is far from a finished product, he has so much potential he could be a perennial All-Pro for the foreseeable future. He will continue to get better while he gets into his mid-20s, next year Edmunds could establish himself as one of the leagues premier linebackers.