When will the splash come?
"Oh, it'll come."
So, it's coming?
"It's coming."
And if it doesn't?
"I'm going to keep playing my game, do what the coaches ask, help my team win."
That exchange I had with Terrell Edmunds came midway through the 2019 season, after which he'd wind up with one total interception over two full NFL seasons, and it's a subject we'd entertained countless times in strikingly similar form. Often, just for fun, I'd approach his stall to tease about a ball that nicked his hand or plopped just in front of him. Each time, he'd laugh. He'd never take it too seriously.
He'd just keep starting every game for the Steelers at strong safety. Logging more snaps than anyone. Living the position as he learned it. Hearing nary a syllable of complaint from Mike Tomlin, Keith Butler or other coaches.
But that had no chance to be enough. Not from fans, who fairly expected a more visible, palpable presence from the team's first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. And certainly not after Minkah Fitzpatrick arrived like a Canton statue waiting to be carved, this when the team felt the need to invest another first-rounder in Edmunds' position only a year later, this time via trade. The bar was raised. The bar was as visible, as palpable as it gets.
Then, Sunday in Jacksonville ...
... yeah, that.
There's symmetry that Fitzpatrick, of course, piled up two more picks himself. But I couldn't help but smile at Edmunds ... well, tripling his career total.
Asked about his own picks of the Jaguars' Jake Luton in the 27-3 victory at TIAA Bank Field, Edmunds stayed right on key: “Really just trying to help the team out the best way I can. The first one was an overthrown ball. Tips and overthrows, as a DB, that’s what you’re asking for. The second one was just playing my zone. Made a nice drop and just tried to help the team the best way I could.”
Helping the team the best he could.
Some first-rounders, my friends, take longer than others. Not many take to the field right away with a blowtorch, the way T.J. Watt did. T.J. was born to be an edge rusher, even if he had to adapt to that at Wisconsin. But Bud Dupree took, what, three or four years of overshooting the quarterback to finally find a path toward paydirt?
Edmunds had his own adaptation to make. Coming out of Virginia Tech, he'd been more of a pure tackler than a pass coverage ace. Yet his 6-foot-1, 217-pound frame was way too wiry to try linebacker, even in a Ryan Shazier mold, so he needed to nail down all the rest to stick as an NFL safety, or he'd be just as much a bust as Jarvis Jones.
He's done that. And he's done so the old-school way. And I dare say there hasn't been a more under-appreciated individual aspect to this team's 10-0 takeoff.
I asked Tomlin in Jacksonville what he's seen in Edmunds' progress year over year, and the start of his answer legitimately surprised me: "Man, this guy has logged a bunch of snaps."
Really, that was the instinctive initial thought that popped to his mind. The team-high 2,573 snaps Edmunds has logged since 2018. That's 94.1% of all defensive snaps in that span.
"I think his best ability is availability when you really look at his career," Tomlin kept going. "As a young guy, he has logged a bunch of snaps over the course of time, and he has gained a quality experience because of it. He has taken that experience and has continually made himself a better player, really in all areas and in pass recognition. I can’t say enough about his run-game fits in the way he is playing in that element of the game here in 2020. But largely, his game has always been on the upswing because he is a young guy and is diligent and a young guy who is very available. When you are very diligent and available, it’s a reasonable thing to expect your play to improve, and his has.”
Again, can't say I was expecting that, but the insight was appreciated. It sure adds up.
I'll shed a little light on Edmunds' actual performance:
• In 10 games and 571 snaps, he's been charged with one missed tackle. That's one, as in O-N-E, and it's the lowest of any starter who's started every game. Fitzpatrick, by the way, has six.
• He's been targeted for passes 31 times, third-most on the team behind the two corners, Joe Haden and Steven Nelson. Of those targets, he's conceded 18 completions for a career-best 58.1% rate.
• He's got seven passes defensed, third-most among all NFL strong safeties, plus the two picks now. I'll rudely remind that the Steelers recently endured an entire season in which Mike Mitchell put up a zero in both categories.
• He's given up zero touchdown passes. Compared to four in 2019.
• He's allowed receivers to gain a total of 40 yards after the catch, an average of 2.2. For perspective, Nelson's allowed a team-worst 5.9.
Oh, and he did this, too:
Way back in Week 2, remember?
Takedown of the Broncos' Jeff Driskel with the game in the balance on a rare blitz for Edmunds.
That also counts as splash, obviously, and he's had his share. In all likelihood, though, his career will continue to blossom -- maybe even morph -- as he becomes even more complete. And with Fitzpatrick as his partner, as he's told me in the past, Edmunds can somewhat take the foot off the pedal in that capacity and simply improve at everything.
Which sounds like it'd suit Butler just fine.
"Yeah, I think he's improved quite a bit," Butler said. "He’s been playing very well for us. He's confident in what he's doing. He's anticipating where he should be and that allows him to play faster and play quicker. Yeah, he’s improved quite a bit."
How to quantify the impact that improvement makes? Try to think of it this way: Rank the Steelers' best defenders, in order, even if it's purely from a perception standpoint.
Here, I'll give it a stab:
1. T.J. Watt
2. Cam Heyward
3. Stephon Tuitt
4. Bud Dupree
5. Minkah Fitzpatrick (I know, right?)
6. Joe Haden
7. Tyson Alualu
8. Vince Williams
9. Edmunds?
All I've got left after those nine are Nelson, who's dipped markedly from last season, and Robert Spillane, the injury replacement for Devin Bush. That's it.
But if the Steelers' defense is so dynamic, so deep that this version of Edmunds still might rank no better than ninth -- or eighth or seventh, but no higher -- that's how teams go from good to great. That's the swing vote.
Spare the isolated splash. Think big.