The Chicago Bears are slated to pick eighth in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft, and so far there hasn’t really been a consensus. Draftniks have been ranging from wide out, to guard, to corner, to linebacker and I’ve seen about seven different players mentioned as options in that spot. One player has been picking up steam since his fantastic performance at the NFL Combine, and that player is Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
Brett Kollmann, who writes for our sister site Battle Red Blog, has an outstanding Film Room series that we’ve highlighted in the past. His latest breakdown is on Edmunds, and it’s a must watch. Kollmann has always been fair him his assessments, making sure to not sugar coat a highlight reel. He dissects prospect’s games and makes sure to point out their flaws as well.
He has Edmunds as a likely top ten pick, and he even mentions the Bears as a potential fit. He also says that Edmunds isn’t a “finished product,” but when you consider he’s only 19-years old, that makes sense.
I’ve talked about Edmunds on my podcast with Andrew, Jacob and EJ, and we all think it may be nest to leave him as an inside linebacker, but some scouts are projecting him to the outside because of his size (6’5”, 253), and speed (4.53 forty).
Check out his spidergraph from MockDraftable.com.
I think since he’s such a raw prospect, making the position change now won’t hurt him. Like Brett said, he’s far from a finished product, so if the plan is let him play opposite Leonard Floyd, draft him and start the conversion process immediately. Remember when Floyd was picked, he wasn’t a pure 3-4 OLB either. Georgia played him off the ball in the middle quite a bit, and they utilized him in pass coverage a lot too. The Bears still utilize Floyd’s versatility in pass coverage, and adding a similar talent in Edmunds would give defensive coordinator Vic Fangio some options.
Check out Brett’s breakdown and let us know what you think about Tremaine Edmunds being an option at eight for the Bears.