Eagles Have a New LB1 in T.J. Edwards

T.J. Edwards was a star linebacker at Wisconsin, a two-time All-Big Ten selection, and a first-team All-American as a junior who left Madison with 37.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, 10 interceptions, and 25 pass breakups.

Despite that production, the next level was changing rapidly and 6-foot-1, 240-pound thumpers who ran 4.8 40-yard dashes were no longer in demand as NFL teams searched for hybrids at the second level whose specialty was coverage coupled with the ability to at least show some competency in run support.

Edwards was ultimately pigeonholed as a two-down player and that kind of role wasn't a draftable commodity. Instead, the Illinois native landed with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Edwards quickly caught the eye of both defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp as a rookie, made the opening-day roster, and stuck for the entire 16 games, even showing enough progress to start four games and register an impressive 83.4 ProFootballFocus.com grade despite the limited playing time.

The thought, however, was the more Edwards played, the more exposed he would get. He wasn't supposed to be a starter in 2020 but ended up getting significant snaps, grading out as No. 19 of 83 among NFL linebackers.

Edwards is cognizant of how he's been portrayed early in his career.

"I think people look at my 40-time three years ago and say 'no way he's gotten faster' so you probably can't cover can't play the pass, can't tackle in space," said Edwards on Thursday as the 3-5 Eagles prepare to host the 4-3 Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. (CBS).

"So I mean, I love all that stuff because I know it's things I've worked on for a long time and I don't think there's anything I can't do at the mike linebacker spot."

There's no longer any uncertainty with Edwards.

"I think just confidence-wise, knowing that I can start and play at this level. But at the end of the day, you know, you got to get wins, you got to play good team defense or whatever the coaches feel is best," said Edwards. "... So I think we've done a good job of keeping the rotation strong and keeping people in the right spot. So we are just gonna keep rolling."

The start of this season for Edwards was more rinse and repeat of his previous season, only with new coaches.

Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon seemed to want either Eric Wilson and Alex Singleton to team up with second-year speedster Davion Taylor to start before a calf injury to Taylor pressed pause on those plans.

By Week 3, it became clear Wilson wasn't the answer and the move was made to a rotational package with Edwards and Taylor being the run-support LBs and Wilson and Singleton being the nickel options.