LATROBE, Pa. -- When Dejan Kovacevic wrote about why Terrell Edmunds is ready for a major sophomore season, he struck a point that I've been investigating all offseason: He needs to get his hands on the ball. Last year Edmunds only had four passes defended and an interception. As far as rookie safeties go, that's not horrible. But that won't cut it as he rises in Keith Butler's defense and as Edmunds indicated to Dejan, he knows it.
But one thing that isn't on Edmunds is the coverage underneath his position. Let's look at how other players on the field can help Edmunds have better numbers in 2019:
When you have a great player in the secondary, he still needs other good players around him to force the ball his way. For example, when Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend were in their primes, Troy Polamalu's interception numbers were way up. This was because opposing quarterbacks couldn't pick on weak outside defenders in coverage, thereby forcing them to target more passes closer to Polamalu.
The same thing applies today for Edmunds, even though he's not quite a great player, yet, and still has a way to go. But when you look at his rookie season you can see how easy it was for teams to target the middle of the field against the Steelers. Vince Williams and Jon Bostic were the starting linebackers for most of the season and neither scared off opposing quarterbacks from targeting players over the middle.
Watch Patrick Mahomes throw right over Bostic to Travis Kelce and how it was his plan all along because he knew Bostic never stood a chance in coverage:
The problem is that defenses need linebackers who at least intimidate quarterbacks into thinking twice about throwing near them. The Steelers helped their secondary out by replacing Coty Sensabaugh with Steven Nelson, but they made an even bigger upgrade by getting Mark Barron and Devin Bush.
Barron and Bush are players who can find the ball and move quickly within hook zones over the middle of the field. Quarterbacks also know this, and as such will be more cautious while targeting the middle of the field, which can create opportunities for Edmunds to get his numbers this season.
For example, the Rams' leading interceptor last season was safety John Johnson with four. But most of those interceptions came as a result of quarterbacks trying throws that had tighter passing windows because of the players around Johnson, and sometimes one of those players was Barron.
Watch this interception of Mitchell Trubisky when Trubisky tries to float a pass over Barron. If he puts this ball on a rope he knows that Barron has a good chance to play the ball and intercept it, so he puts some touch on it. Because Barron is underneath his target, he puts too much touch on the pass, allowing Johnson the chance to intercept:
Edmunds won't just benefit from being in an NFL system for a second year, he will benefit because Kevin Colbert has worked to give him good teammates to help funnel opportunities to the middle of the field.
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