Bandit ~ Tremaine Edmunds ~ Virginia Tech Hokies ~ 6045/252
Old Roles are getting dramatically transformed, and virtually every Front 7 ~ or Front 6!! ~ Defensive Job Description is transitioning into an Hybrid Role where the Defender is asked to excel in multiple Roles and in multiple Fronts.
For that reason, and in order to offer NomenClature that speaks not to archaic, obsolete "Positions", but rather to Skill Sets that accurately reflect the dynamic Changes of the 21st Century Game and the Roles they have spawned, I have undertaken to craft Terminology that is designed to break Skill Sets down as they really are.
Defensive Coordinators have, since Time Immemorial, employed highly creative terminology in devising Defenses and in designating Assignments. In that Spirit, I have admittedly indulged myself considerably in devising the following NomenClature. It is undeniably colorful, but I like to think that there's an underlying Logic, as well:
Bandits ~ This is my term, derived from Defensive Schemes, for Players with the WingSpan for the Defensive Line yet who, unlike Dragons, lack the Size to play there regularly, because they can't be expected to Anchor against the Run.
They are thus the right Size though a bit tall to play MidFielder and can generally do so, but I believe are optimally employed as Wild Cards, deployed all over the Formation from Snap to Snap, usually in the murky, shifty region between the Defensive Line and the MidFielders, usually standing up, and generally giving no clue as to their Intentions.
I believe that the Bandit, whatever he's called in a given Formation, stands at the very EpiCenter of the disruptive Changes that Defensive Formations are undergoing today. Their unique combination of Size & Speed offers precisely that Wild Card Variable that I believe is potentially priceless for Defenses to compete and indeed to excel in the incessantly and rapidly evolving Strategic LandScape of the 21st Century. The Prototype would be around 6030/245 or so, I'd say.
As the ultimate Defensive Hybrid, Bandits could quite conceivably Rush the Passer, Blitz the Run, or Drop into Coverage on any given play, and from virtually any alignment on the Line or in the BackField. They won't anchor against the Run very effectively, they won't overwhelm with Power in their Pass Rush, and they're not built to Turn & Burn with WideOuts in Coverage, but they are in fact optimally built to conceivably compete effectively in all three Facets of the Game.
Of course, where and how any given Coach chooses to deploy his Players is his Business. Players that I characterize as Bandits may often or even routinely line up anywhere, on any given Down. My only purpose is simply to identify what I perceive as Skill Sets, to distinguish types, if you will, and perhaps create a universal Point of Reference.
When evaluating Bandits, this is how I break down the Attributes to which I pay most particular attention:
Power: Above all: Core Power. Torso Power is important, but Core Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. All the upper body Strength in the world will still fail if you simply can't dig in your Heels. But Core Power enables an Offensive Lineman to project Power in the Running Game and to reject Power in the Passing Game.
Agility: Launch Velocity, Acceleration, and above all: Fluidity or Core Agility. Core Agility is even more essential to sustained good Health ~ and to sustained good FootBall ~ than Core Power. The ability to react with Serpentine smoothness is a tremendous Asset in all Aspects of the Game, and certainly in the Hand to Hand Combat that characterizes Trench Warfare. All the Power in the World goes only so far if you're lurching around like FrankenStein.
Frame: Vertical Leverage, Hands, Arm Length, and WingSpan.
Combat Skills: Horizontal Leverage, Paw Positioning, Paw Persistence, and FootWork. Above all: Pass Rush Repertoire.
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the Rapidly Roiling Tactical LandScape!!
Tackling: Thunderous Booms are all very well, but I'm more interested in form and efficiency!!
Motor: Intensity and Stamina: How much Work has been put into Conditioning, and how it manifests itself.
Run Defense: All the Above, applied.
Pass Coverage: Ditto.
Pass Rush: Double Dirty Dog Ditto.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Power
* Core Power ~ lower body Power. Core Power trumps Torso Power. Tyrannosaurus Rex had exceptional Core Power.
* Torso Power ~ upper Body Power. Important, but not crucial. T Rex had lousy Torso Power...yet was King.
* Anchoring Strength against the Run.
* Drive Power, Rushing the Passer.
Agility
* Fluidity, above all things: Core Agility & Flexibility makes everything possible.
* Launch Velocity ~ Speed into Contact off the Snap.
* Acceleration ~ Short Speed or Quickness.
Frame
* Vertical Leverage. Height is crucial, but it's actually better, I believe, to be an Inch shorter than an Inch Taller.
* Hands. The larger the better, generally, but compact is never a bad Attribute in The Trenches.
* Arm Length. Absolutely crucial. He who boasts the longer Arms initiates Combat.
* WingSpan. Arm Length + Torso Width. A more complete Measurement.
Combat Skills
* Lateral Leverage. Angles. Getting Square or better with the Target.
* Paw Positioning ~ It's all about Angles & Leverage.
* Paw Persistence ~ RPMs: Activity & Persistence.
* FootWork ~ RPMs: Activity & Persistence.
* Pass Rush Repertoire: Variety.
Processing Speed
* Reading & Reacting to Offensive Blocking Schemes with Speed & Precision.
* Field Vision: Finding Targets & approaching them effectively.
Tackling
* Impact
* Form
* Efficiency
Motor
* Intensity.
* Stamina.
Power: 50 but with considerable potential. Just 19, and hasn't grown into his Frame, yet.
Agility: 100. Absolutely cosmic levels of Acceleration and Fluidity. Freakishly gifted.
Frame: 100. His Height be an impediment to functional Power, which is a Liability that most Bandits have, but it doesn't at all compromise his Fluidity, which is freaking amazing...And when he finishes growing into that Frame and develops that Functional Power, it's gonna be an enormous Freight Train Advantage. And his WingSpan is sensational.
Combat Skills: 50. Raw in most aspects, but not egregiously so.
Processing Speed: 33. Lots of studying to be done!!
Tackling: 80. Excellent Form and excellent Efficiency.
Motor: 100. Amazing Intensity and Stamina.
Run Defense: 75 and trending towards 100. Awesome Motor, outrageous Agility, and a tremendous Tackler. He needs more Power to improve his moderate Point of Attack level, and he needs to improve his Combat Skills and Processing Speed significantly to unlock his vast potential...But if brings all that together, he will be a one man Wrecking Crew.
Pass Coverage: 50. Still learning, but his Agility is absolutely elite.
Pass Rush: 66 and trending towards 100. He needs to develop his Power and Combat Skills, but if he does? Oh, my. Edmunds has the Launch Velocity, Acceleration, and WingSpan to become borderline unstoppable.
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com may have the quote of the 2018 Draft Season. He had a Scout tell'm "Good luck with your player comp on this one." Hah!! Perfect, because Edmunds brings outrageous and simply mind-boggling Speed and Agility to the 250 Pounder class combined with a pterodactylesque WingSpan. The Game is changing before our very eyes, and a revolutionary Skill Set is needed to respond to what the 21st Century demands of Defenses. That's why I spun off the X Factor that Bandits represent tactically, because I believed then and believe now that they'll grow tactically crucial.
And Tremaine Edmunds and Leighton Vander Esch are literally pushing the athletic envelope right here and right now. Nobody has ever brought as much athleticism in such large Frames as either of these guys.
Edmunds is very raw, both in terms of Field Vision and Processing Speed, and in terms of Combat Skills...But he is by all accounts incredibly intelligent and driven, despite his youth ~ he turned 20 only a few days ago!! ~ and his play on the GridIron certainly supports his reputation. There are no sure things, especially given the developmental level of those important aspects of his Game, but I am highly confident that he will become most if not all that he can be.
And his Potential, needless to say, as a 3 Way Play with the potential to excel in Pass Coverage, dominate in Run Defense, and terrorize as a Pass Rusher, while inspiring his teammates, is flat out spectacular.
Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.
Bargain!!
Market Value #16 | Yankee Grade Top 5 |
Please also note, Fellow FootBall Fiends: These CyberScouting Reports are not intended as predictions of success or failure, but as assessments ~ ludicrously amateurish assessments ~ of potential success. FootBall is a rough and often unfair business, and many a worthy Prospect has fallen far short of his potential, sometimes not because of his own failings, but because of those of coaching, scheme, timing...or because huge investments were made on other Prospects.
In other words: If any of my Super Dooper Deeper Sleepers ever fail to fulfill their vast potential, I’m confident that it goes without saying that it wasn’t their fault…or mine!!...Yes, I think that I'm being funny.
In other words: Caveat Emptor, Fellow FootBall Fiends!!
Enter at your own risk!!