T.J. Edwards named a surprise starter who could emerge for the Eagles in 2020

[UK_EaglesFan89]

T.J. Edwards named a surprise starter who could emerge for the Eagles in 2020

 The Philadelphia

 Eagles linebacker corps is either extremely underrated or a serious problem for a talented defense based on which analysts or NFL expert you choose to listen to.

The Eagles got extremely faster and athletic at the position after they signed Jatavis Brown in free agency and then drafted Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley.

Even with the new moving parts, one name continues to emerge as a breakout candidate and that’s second-year linebacker T.J. Edwards who made the Eagles roster last season as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin.

Bleacher Report recently highlighted a surprise starter who could emerge in 2020 and Edwards was named the Eagles candidate.

Philadelphia Eagles: LB T.J. Edwards

The Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker corps is concerning. A projected starting group of Nathan Gerry, Jatavis Brown, and possibly Alex Singleton doesn’t inspire much hope.

The younger options on the roster present some upside, though. The Eagles may be better off moving forward with T.J. Edwards, Duke Riley, and this year’s third-round pick, Davion Taylor.

Of the previously mentioned linebackers, Brown has the most starting experience. The 2016 fifth-round pick has also battled injuries throughout his four-year career. As such, Edwards could easily find himself running the Eagles defense as its "Mike” linebacker.

"He’s the kind of player that nobody in our scouting department gets excited about because he’s not fast or splashy, but he knows how to play,” an NFC linebackers coach told NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein before the 2019 NFL draft.

With the Eagles sometimes utilizing five or six defensive backs, Edwards’s savvy ability to sniff out the run and make stops at the point of attack could give him the upper hand in a position battle that will highlight the early portion of training camp.

https://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/2020/06/29/philadelphia-eagles-nfl-tj-edwards-breakout-season-bleacher-report/

I'm not sure he's that much of a surprise for us Eagles Fans? We anticipate Edwards to play a big role because our LB corps is pretty poor.

[PoconoDon]

Not really surprised by the selection.

[time2rock]

I mentioned Edwards a while ago as one of my top breakout candidates.  Fingers crossed he becomes a hit.  Obviously it would be huge for the position group and defense overall if he becomes a solid starter for us ... anything more would be gravy.  

[20dawk4life]

I think we have an extremely underrated LB coach. He hasn't exactly been given the cream of the crop talent to work with and has continually made players better. 

[DeathByEagle]

He might be named a starter but don't see him playing a large amount of snaps due to our base scheme. i think you see a lot of 3 corners, 3 Safeties and 1 LB sets. On big sets and we go 4-3 or goal line base he will be in there. But that is not a widely used sets in this defense. 

[jsb235]

2 hours ago, DeathByEagle said:

He might be named a starter but don't see him playing a large amount of snaps due to our base scheme. i think you see a lot of 3 corners, 3 Safeties and 1 LB sets. On big sets and we go 4-3 or goal line base he will be in there. But that is not a widely used sets in this defense. 

I watched two of his games from college, one against Penn State and the other against Miami, where he had to cover Sanders and Travis Homer, who was a sixth-round pick of the Seahawks and made their team last year. I would say he did okay against them. He didn't get matched up very often in coverage, but in the handful of times he did, he was able to contain them. He made one nice play on Sanders stopping him for a short game on a dump off and pretty much stifled Homer.

He is going to be limited in coverage at times, but I don't see a major problem. He seems content to give up a few yards to avoid giving up a huge play. With linebackers, I think taking proper angles is more important than having blazing speed, since at this level guys who get a step are going to be gone.

As far as our alignment, Gerry is pretty much a safety, so if he and Edwards are on the field together, we are already in a 4-1-6 alignment. If we take Edwards off the field, we essentially are playing without a LB. We were okay with Bradham playing 100 percent of the snaps last year when he was healthy, and I think the same is true this year with Edwards.

If we do take Edwards off the field, we are going to be awfully small at times. If Mills replaces Jenkins, we are already 15 pounds lighter at the SS position. Gerry is probably 20 pounds lighter than Bradham (he is listed at 230, but has to be closer to 220.)

It seems like the plan right now is for Parks and Edwards to split time at the LB spot, with Parks playing in passing situations. But IMO, Parks would be a better replacement for Jenkins (he's the same size and had as much speed), and leaving Gerry and Edwards on the field most of the time wouldn't hurt us too badly. (I am no fan of Gerry, but if he improves his tackling and ability to shed blocks, I think he could be really good.)

I don't really see a role for Mills here. He's not big enough to be our SS or fast enough to be a FS. I would have probably left him at corner and matched him up with slower wide receivers. But every year Schwartz does something that drives me crazy (in the past it was refusing to match up our corners on receivers, so our slow guys were always covering their fast guys) and this year I fear it will be putting Mills at SS regardless if he can play the position or not.