In undrafted Edwards, Birds unearthed a real player
Second-year linebacker a real find for Eagles
As he prepares any defensive game plan, Jim Schwartz will study every film, catalog every tendency, break down every scheme, consider every stat.
As for deciding who will execute that plan, the check list is a little more streamlined. Actually, it’s one item long.
Can the guy play football? And that’s how the Eagles have found a workable and potentially outstanding inside linebacker while too few others were looking.
Schwartz was discussing that Monday as the Eagles resurfaced, their dominance of the NFC East undisturbed during a bye week. Specifically, he was praising T.J. Edwards, who has made nine NFL starts in two seasons. That included last Sunday, when the second-year linebacker from Wisconsin was in on 13 tackles, six of the solo variety, and chipped in a with a strip sack and a forced fumble that Rodney McLeod returned for a touchdown in a 23-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
Even if it was only because Nate Gerry needed injured-reserve time to recover from an ankle injury, Edwards’ performance meant one thing: The Eagles had found the linebacker they’ve needed to complete an otherwise competitive defense … all while too few were looking.
“There’s a difference between a guy that tests well and a guy that plays football well,” said Schwartz, the defensive coordinator. “I think that T.J. is a guy that plays football well.”
So, he does, not that he didn’t know that all along. For some reason, though, Edwards has spent a career being overlooked. A quarterback in high school, he was
recruited as a safety, but not at the highest level. Rather, he would commit to Western Michigan. Eventually, a scout convinced him to upgrade to the Big Ten … where he was promptly red-shirted. Yet before he would leave, Edwards would be a Butkus Award finalist, a firstteam All-American, an All-Big Ten linebacker and the MVP of the Cotton Bowl.
Despite all of that proven football talent, Edwards went undrafted. The reason: The knownothings decided that his 4.8 time in the 40 was two-tenths of a second slow.
Draftniks.
“I thought my time was a little lower than that,” Edwards said, his defense mechanism sharpened after so many years. “But I was just a guy who always worked at his craft. I had to be sound technically in everything I did.”
The Eagles signed Edwards as a free agent and, naturally, he walked onto the roster and made 14 special-teams tackles. This year, he was involved in four games, had the hamstring injury, then was used as a starter against the Cowboys.
The past performance sheet indicates he will not soon lose the job.
“Our scouts really did a great job with him, getting him as a free agent,”
Schwartz said. “A lot of them had him marked as one of their ‘red star’ players, which means that’s one of their favorite players in the draft. And we made a strong effort to get him after the draft. I’m very thankful for that. Being able to get a guy like that without having to spend a draft pick was a great addition for us.”
It may never be exactly clear how a 6-1, 242-pound first-team AllAmerican with red-star ratings on his scouting reports could sneak through a 13-hour draft. All Edwards knows is that it really didn’t surprise him, considering the path that carried him from Lake Villa, Ill., to the NewsControl Compound.
“I think it just put a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “It’s something that I use and I think I will always use, to be honest with you. I just want to be the best player that I can be at all times. So even though it was a decent game the other week, there are still so many things I could clean up and be better at. So I am just excited to get back in here and get to work.”
Against Dallas, Edwards was mostly employed in the standard defense, not trusted as an every-down linebacker. At 23, he is young enough to develop into that role. Take the over.
“He’s a strong player,” Schwartz said. “He can fill those interior gaps. He’s probably our best linebacker when it comes to
being physical at the line of scrimmage and taking on guards and tackles and taking offensive linemen off of double teams and things like that. And he’s a reliable tackler.”
Yet even as he drags ball carriers to the ground, Edwards also drags around a reputation of not being athletic enough to play every defensive snap. He dominates on special teams. He played quarterback in high school. He was recruited as a safety. He has been successful in the NFL.
What does he have to do to prove his athleticism, win the Olympic gold medal on the parallel bars?
“I feel very comfortable being in the middle,” he said. “It’s something I did for five years in college. I feel comfortable taking on blocks. I feel comfortable in coverage. I did a lot of that in college, and we have similar schemes here. I feel very comfortable in the pass game. And I think in that, it’s more just making plays and showing people you can do it.
“I think last game will help me a lot.”
The game helped Edwards, and Edwards helped the Eagles win the game, solidify a defense and redefine a season.
It’s what happens when the coaches turn to somebody who knows how to play football.