A common misconception about the Chicago Bears signing Tremaine Edmunds in free agency was the idea his sole value is making tackles and stopping the run. Make no mistake. He will be a big help with that. The Bears run defense was second-to-last in the NFL. Having a Pro Bowl middle linebacker should instantly help correct that problem. What people often forget about Edmunds is his ability to drop in coverage. His 6’5 frame, long arms, and 4.5 speed are difficult to throw around. Few understand his value better than Jaquan Brisker.
The young Bears safety is thrilled to have Edmunds in the fold. Aside from being a great teammate and leader, he’s going to make life so much easier for Brisker and Eddie Jackson. He explained why during his Wednesday presser.
“With that much speed … we can let him do everything underneath and we’ve got everything over the top,” Brisker said. “So it makes us play deeper and sit back there and let him roam around … It just makes it easier for us to get our eyes back on the quarterback and just go get the ball.”
There is evidence to back this up. In 2021, Buffalo Bills safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer combined for ten interceptions. Poyer had four more last year (Hyde was injured). What Brisker says is true. Knowing Edmunds is patrolling the middle of the fields allows safeties to watch the quarterback, taking more opportunities to undercut passing lanes.
Tremaine Edmunds has Urlacher-like ability.
No, he is what Brian Urlacher was. However, the talent is the same. What made the all-time Bears great so deadly was his ability to drop deep down the middle. Quarterbacks couldn’t throw over him because of his range and 6’4 frame. That meant taking their chances on deep strikes down the sidelines, a primary alley for safeties to get turnovers if the ball was underthrown or ill-timed. Mike Brown and Chris Harris took full advantage of such opportunities in the mid-to-late 2000s.
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Tremaine Edmunds had the best all-around coverage season of his career last year. Quarterbacks targeted him 60 times, completing only 39 passes for zero touchdowns and an interception. It was a major breakthrough for him after struggling the two previous years. If he remains that play in this defense, then Brisker is correct. The Bears will benefit significantly in the turnover department. Jackson had four interceptions last year without such benefits. Imagine what he might do with Edmunds maximizing his opportunities.
The most undervalued team going into 2023 is the Chicago Bears and they will surprise more than just a handful of teams and people. R Poles and M Eberflus will definitely be in the running for the top accolades in 2023.
Linebackers have up and down years. Even Urlacher. Edmunds is year 1 in a new system with all new teammates. All we can hope for is he stays healthy.
From PFF: It feels impossible to improve in coverage as much as Edmunds did between 2021 and 2022. In the former season, Edmunds was a liability in that regard, posting an abysmal 34.6 grade, the fifth-worst mark among linebackers to play at least 20% of their team’s defensive snaps.
Not gonna put him in the same category as Urlacher, but a lengthy middle linebacker with speed seems like a perfect match for a cover 2/Zone defense. If our defensive front can get some better penetration this season, I expect a sizable jump this year.
What factual information do you have to say Edmunds struggled in pass coverage in 2020 and 2021? I think you just make this shit up. The guy is a bona fide Pro Bowl and potential All-Pro talent! You don’t go from “struggling” in pass coverage to the best LB in the NFL in pass coverage (which he was last year). Too often you write a decent article and then you screw it up by saying something stupid (like this).