Buffalo Bills Top 20 Talents in 2018: No. 10 - LB Tremaine Edmunds

At the end of the July, the Buffalo Bills will embark upon something they haven’t gone for in quite some time — as they’ll attempt to make it to the playoffs for the second consecutive season. With head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane at the helm, the team is almost completely different than what it was two years ago.

As the Bills get ready for training camp in late July, 7ABC will take a look at the team on the field — and more specifically, the top talent that exists on the roster that can help the Bills get back to the postseason. You’ll be introduced to the Bills’ ‘Top 20 Talents’ for the upcoming season in 2018.

It's a bit of a different 'most talented' list because it also takes other factors into consideration. The countdown criteria:

• Overall skill-level
• On-the-field performance
• Projection based on film study over the past several years
• Age, and improving/declining ability

With that written, on to the countdown:

No. 10 - LB Tremaine Edmunds

Age: 20 (DOB: 5/2/1998)

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 253

Why he’s here:
- Starved for a middle linebacker, the Buffalo Bills made another trade up the board to secure the services of Tremaine Edmunds out of Virginia Tech -- and they identified him as a potential game-changing player at a position that they value highly. Edmunds' build is not the traditionally accepted body type for linebackers in the NFL over the past two decades. Edmunds is a tall, long, and athletic player that the NFL is increasingly trying to find more and more of, and the Bills believe he can fill a pivotal role in Sean McDermott's defense. Edumunds is still incredibly young, his athleticism can make him into a multi-faceted defensive presence both against the run and in coverage, and he's going toe-to-toe with both Tre'Davious White and Josh Allen as the players with the most potential on the entire roster. The reason he is only at number 10 is that he is still a rookie and just a projection at this point, though the projections for him are quite good at this point. The Bills hope that they got a steal with the 16th overall selection in Edmunds.

2018 outlook
- While Edmunds wasn't the main draw of the 2018 NFL Draft for the Buffalo Bills, he might wind up being the most impactful first rounder for the totality of the 2018 season. From the very first moment, he was on the practice field getting 1-on-1 instructions from head coach Sean McDermott during rookie minicamp, and then when the veterans joined the offseason practices, Edmunds was firmly entrenched as the middle linebacker with the first-team defense, in the role that never leaves the field regardless of the offensive personnel that opposes them. Expect him to be on the field 100-percent of the time. Edmunds has the potential to have an immediate positive impact on the defense, and given the nature of his position, he'll likely be right in the mix for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors barring an injury.

Twitter: @JoeBuscaglia