Saints Beat Reporter: Bryan Edwards Could "Have Bigger Impact Than Expected"
When it comes college football programs and the NFL talent each one churns out, there are constant arguments over who can claim monikers like "WRU," "DBU," and plenty of other positions in terms of player development. While South Carolina might not be able to lay claim to any specific position group at the moment, the Gamecocks have proven they can consistently send guys to the league. The wide receiver position, in particular, has been a unit that South Carolina developed quite nicely in recent years, as the Gamecocks have witnessed eleven of their receivers get drafted over the past fifteen years.
One of those recent draftees was wide receiver Bryan Edwards, who was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders 3rd round back in the 2020 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, Edwards has struggled to find stable footing in the NFL, as he's already been on three different teams in the first three years of his professional career. However, This offseason, Bryan Edwards was signed by the New Orleans Saints, who earlier that offseason had signed former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, a teammate of Edwards in Las Vegas.
It seems fair to assume that Derek Carr championed his former teammate to Saints management, which led to Bryan getting signed by New Orleans. Some people are non-believers when it comes to personnel moves being made for the sake of familiarity, but Ross Jackson, a writer for Fan Nation's New Orleans Saints affiliate site, Saints News Network, thinks that Edwards' expansive route tree could make him a viable option in the black and gold's offense in 2023.
"Should another rash of bad injury luck set in for [Michael] Thomas, Edwards is a shoo-in to take over the X-receiver role. His route distribution from 2021 gives a good glimpse as to why. He ran quite a few vertical routes with 98 "go routes" and 28 up the seam," Ross explained. "But he also added more than 30 reps running each of the following routes: corner, out, hitch, dig, post, and slant, charting reveals. Quite the diverse deployment."
In the NFL, one surefire way to see the field as a wide receiver is to have fantastic route-running ability and a deep route tree. For Bryan Edwards, this might not just help him break into the Saints' rotation in 2023 but also help him revitalize his career in the process.
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