Terrell Edmunds hasn’t exactly played like a first-round pick, but here’s why Bleacher Report believes the Steelers safety can shed his bust status.
It seems like there are two very different opinions Steelers fans have when it comes to former first-round safety, Terrell Edmunds. While most would agree that he’s not in the Artie Burns or Jarvis Jones-level of busts for Pittsburgh, many still give him that label.
Personally, I’m part of a company that doesn’t think that’s really fair. Though I agree that Edmunds has played up to his billing as a former first-round draft choice back in 2018, it hasn’t been all bad.
If you think that Edmunds hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status, perhaps there is still hope yet. Recently, Ian Warton of Bleacher Report listed Edmunds among seven NFL players who could shed the ‘bust’ label in 2022.
It’s reasonable to understand why. Terrell Edmunds had a sophomore slump back in 2019. He failed to record a single interception or sack while being credited for surrendering 514 passing yards and 4 touchdowns, according to advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference. This equated to him allowing a cringe-worthy 131.6 passer rating.
Fortunately, things have gotten much better over the past two years. While Edmunds still severely lacks big-play ability and routine splash plays, he was able to become much more consistent in coverage over the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Last year, Edmunds allowed just 7.5 yards per reception and 56.6 percent of passes to be completed in his coverage for just a 63.7 passer rating. This was the second-best passer rating allowed on the team outside of CB Ahkello Witherspoon and Edmunds ranked among the top safeties in the league in this department last year.
How can Steelers safety shed ‘bust’ label?
There is still much work that needs to be done with Terrell Edmunds, but fortunately, the athletic safety turned just 25 years old this offseason and he could still have a bright future ahead. Edmunds has slowly become more consistent both as a tackler and in coverage, however, there is one thing he still desperately needs to work on.
In order to be considered a complete safety in today’s NFL, you must possess the ability to create splash plays routinely. Oddly enough, this is something he actually did pretty well in college. In his final two seasons at Virginia Tech at just the ages of 19 and 20, Edmunds earned 6 interceptions and 7.0 tackles for a loss.
We would like to see this playmaking ability come back in the NFL, and we aren’t giving up hope just yet. Though Edmunds only has 5 career interceptions in his first four NFL seasons, 2 of those have come in his past 15 games.
Edmunds doesn’t need to be a safety that takes the ball away 5-6 times per season to be effective, but he does need to create more splash than he did on his rookie contract.
How he performs during the 2022 season could prove to be a turning point in his NFL career. If he takes another step forward, Terrell Edmunds could not only shed the dreaded ‘bust’ label, but he could also earn a sizable contract either with the Steelers or in free agency in 2023.