What to Expect from Buffalo Bills Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in Year Two

Tremaine Edmunds, the Buffalo Bills‘ up and coming linebacker and leading tackler from 2018, is poised for a big season this year as he is expected to take on a more prominent role on Buffalo’s defense. Although Edmunds has a promising career ahead of him, his rookie season was met with a few bumps in the road. Here is what we can expect from Edmunds entering his second season of NFL play.

Recap of Last Season:

Coming out of Virginia Tech, Edmunds soared up scouts’ draft boards for his monstrous size, speed, and his overall disruptiveness. After selecting quarterback Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, the Bills selected Edmunds with the 16th pick via trade with the Baltimore Ravens. Edmunds was named starting middle linebacker before the season started, replacing Preston Brown who left the Bills in free agency.

Unfortunately for the Bills, Edmunds didn’t have the start he expected. Pro Football Focus was not particularly keen on Edmunds’ overall play, as he was given an average 57.4 overall grade, along with a 55.6 run-defense grade and a 55.4 coverage grade.

However, Edmunds was able to salvage his rookie season, winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors with 43 tackles, four pass breakups, one sack, and two interceptions.

Overall, Edmunds has a ways to go to improve on last year’s performance. The biggest thing needs to fix his tackling and finishing plays. He missed a total of 15 tackles this season, which was fourth overall in the league.

What to Expect This Season:

Edmunds has some big shoes to fill in Buffalo this year. Kyle Williams, the former defensive captain and the heart and soul of the entire team, hung up his cleats after 13 seasons. Although Edmunds may have his doubters, head coach Sean McDermott has put his faith in both him and Josh Allen to become leaders on and off the field.

“His [Josh Allen] and Tremaine’s leadership will be key to our success, at a young age, because there’s a gap with what we had last year. Year-three and year-four players, there was an absence of that in our locker room. We’ve added there somewhat in free agency, but Josh and Tremaine on the offensive and defensive side are two young players who are going to have an added amount of responsibility from a leadership standpoint this year.”

– Sean McDermott

The Bills have high expectations of Edmunds for the upcoming season, and the team has good reason to believe he will show marked improvement over his rookie season performance. With the help of a few defensive acquisitions in free agency, and possibly more in the draft, Edmunds and the Bills defense look to remain in the conversation as the league’s top defense. As Bills fans, we can only hope for the best.