Last offseason, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles knew that in order to get his team where it needed to be, he needed to make some aggressive moves.
During the 2023 offseason, Poles did just that by opening up the checkbook for the first time in order to bring in some of the top free agents on the market. Two of Poles' biggest signings were two off ball linebackers who helped transform the defense.
Tremaine Edmunds, the former Buffalo Bills Pro Bowler, received a massive contract from the team while the front office struck gold with former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards. The two together formed one of the top middle linebacker duos in the entire league in 2023 and got some major recognition for their work.
Over the past few days, ESPN has been compiling Top-10 rankings at each position voted on by NFL executives, coaches, and scouts from around the league. Today, the rankings focused on off ball linebackers specifically, and each of the Bears' duo were mentioned in some fashion.
Surprisingly, it was Edmunds who found himself ranked higher on the list, despite multiple voters recognizing that it was Edwards who had the better 2023 season. Edmunds was listed seventh on the list and an NFL defensive coach provided some context about what held Edmunds back from being listed higher.
"He's the classic Tampa-2 Mike linebacker, the prototype for that role," an NFL defensive coach said . "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."
The evaluation of Edmunds' game couldn't be more spot on. In coverage, Edmunds was excellent and was tied for a team-high with four interceptions while actually winning the team's "Ball Hawk Award" over Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson. He still finished the season with 113 tackles but PFF gave Edmunds a 57.5 run defense grade that ranked 54th among 64 linebackers who played 250+ run defense snaps. However, as a leader, Edmunds is proving to be one of the team's best .
Even still, not being a main factor in the run game and his lack of physicality (one sack in the last three seasons) definitely holds Edmunds back from being a potential Top-5 guy in the league. Edwards, however, has all the traits needed to reach that level if he can build off of his career season he put together in 2023.
"He's really good. Not a premier athlete, but he was one of Chicago's best players last year," NFC exec said.
Edwards ended his first season in Chicago with 155 tackles, eight shy of Roquan Smith's single-season franchise record. Not to mention his 2.5 sacks and three interceptions as well. He truly was one of the best players on the entire team and yet was only listed as an honorable mention in the rankings. With another offseason under his belt in Matt Eberflus' scheme, Edwards will look to preform even better in 2024.
"I think it's nice to have that familiarity for sure," Edwards said . "Coming back, running the same type of scheme, having the confidence within that. And I think just for us, chemistry in football is such a big thing. Knowing how certain guys are gonna play and certain guys are gonna fit. And even just how they are in terms of how you communicate with one another. So it's all those things it really helps us a lot. I'm excited about where we are for sure."
By playing literally right next to each other on every play, Edmunds and Edwards will only continue to push each other to new heights during the upcoming season and their league-wide recognition will only continue to grow.
"They're really close," LB coach Dave Borgonzi told ChicagoBears.com . "Really the whole group is close, and then Tremaine and T.J., coming from different places last year, the bond really started when they got here. It is really their love for football. They love competing. They love practicing. They love getting ready for the games, and they are competitive with each other, which really works for the whole room."
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