The Philadelphia Eagles catch a lot of flak for not placing a priority on the linebacker position but Howie Roseman’s latest undrafted free agent find could become a future Pro Bowler.
Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards is quickly building a name for himself in NFL circles and the former undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin is set to make the Eagles GM look like a genius.
NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund broke down some of the most underappreciated players in the NFC and Edwards was the player she selected for the Eagles despite T.J. only playing 110 snaps as an undrafted free agent rookie in 2019.
This undrafted free-agent rookie signing last season paid huge returns for the Eagles’ defense in the form of the highest tackle rate among linebackers with a minimum of 100 snaps in the NFL (20 percent, or 22 tackles on 110 defensive snaps) and the second-best run defense grade among linebackers in the NFL per PFF’s grading system (90.3). A fun note here: His salary ranks 297 among 350 linebackers, per Over The Cap — but that will not be the case in his next contract, should he continue this level of production.
Pro Football Focus recently named Edwards as a potential second-year breakout candidate and the productive linebacker seems to have found a home in Jim Schwartz’s complicated defense.
Edwards will likely assume middle linebacker duties, while Nate Gerry, Shaun Bradley,, and Davion Taylor allow the Eagles to be even more versatile at linebacker.
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