Bear Digest

The Surprise Bears Player Who Won Respect in League Poll

NFL coaches, scouts and executives seem less worried about one Bears player's start to his Chicago career than his potential in an anonymous poll.

Gene Chamberlain

Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds wraps up Bijan Robinson for a tackle last season during a 37-17 Bears victory.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds wraps up Bijan Robinson for a tackle last season during a 37-17 Bears victory. / Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

Anyone can have one poor season.

This is essentially what the verdict is on Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in a series of stories ESPN is writing, quoting NFL executives, coaches and scouts to rank players by position.

Edmunds had a poor start to his Bears career, of this there is little doubt. Yet, he recovered for a strong finish and there remains respect for him around the league as this ranking by Pro Football Focus among linebackers says.

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The story about linebackers by ESPN has Edmunds ranked seventh among all off-ball linebackers in the NFL. He had been ranked No. 3 in last year’s rankings story.

At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds with elite speed, Edmunds possesses the high-end traits that scouts love. And while Buffalo knocked him for his lack of splash plays over four seasons there, he delivered four interceptions in his first year in Chicago.

“He’s the classic Tampa-2 Mike linebacker, the prototype for that role," one NFL defensive coach told ESPN. "Better as a zone coverage player, a little light in the run game, not as physical as you'd like him to be but has serious range."

Fowler noted Edmunds' career-high total of four interceptions but what wasn't mentioned in the article was how a poor start was obviously influenced by injuries in the offseason and preseason. Edmunds had virtually no practice time at training camp before his first Bears season since coming over from Buffalo.

Fred Warner (No. 1), Roquan Smith (No. 2), Matt Milano (No. 3), Patrick Queen (No. 4), Nick Bolton (No. 5) and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (No. 6) all ranked ahead of Edmunds.

The surprising part of all this is how T.J. Edwards was not ranked. Edwards has been ranked or graded higher than Edmunds on a few different rankings of linebackers, including one by PFF. Sam Monson of PFF, in a video analysis for The 33rd Team, has Edwards mentioned first as most underrated.

Edwards was well down the list of honorable mentions by ESPN in this poll of executives, coaches and scouts.

“He’s really good. Not a premier athlete, but he was one of Chicago's best players last year,” one unnamed NFL executive said in the article.

Like Edmunds, Edwards was heavily involved in creating takeaways. Edwards had three interceptions, a forced fumble and two recoveries while making 155 tackles, only four less than he had with the Eagles and eight short of the Bears record set in 2021 by Smith one season before being traded to Baltimore.

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Gene Chamberlain

GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.