Tremaine Edmunds, Buffalo Bills. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
Tremaine Edmunds’ rise as a leader means big things for the Buffalo Bills.
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is well on his way to being a superstar in the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills linebacker already has a Pro Bowl nod under his belt after only two years in the league. Nobody has made more tackles than the 236 ball carriers Edmunds has wrapped up the last two years. Not only does he stem from a proud football family with a Pro Bowl father and his two brothers playing nearby with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Edmunds only just turned 22.
While the Bills have been a good football team throughout the entire Sean McDermott era in Orchard Park, Buffalo has lot two key leaders on the defensive side of the ball over the last two years in linebacker Lorenzo Alexander and defensive tackle Kyle Williams to retirement. Fortunately, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier thinks it’s Edmunds’ time to lead in Buffalo.
“When you look at the fact that he’s just going to third season and just turning 22, so young, so much promise ahead of him, and he’s achieved so much already,” said Frazier to CBSSports.com. “I mean, to already be recognized as one of our leaders on our team and on our defense. We’re very, very fortunate to have him.”
“He’s the epitome of what you would want to one of your star players to be, one of your leaders to be. A guy you don’t have to worry about late at night. You know he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be, you know he’s going to do what he’s supposed to do when it comes to football. We’re just very very fortunate to have him as a star player for the Buffalo Bills for sure.”
Tremaine Edmunds can lead by example towards an AFC East division title.
Frazier is part of an impressive coaching staff in Orchard Park. Along with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, both could end up being candidates for head-coaching gigs if all goes according to plan for Buffalo this fall. So will this be the first season since Jim Kelly was their superstar quarterback that the Bills finally win the AFC East? They are favored to do so in 2020.
For the Bills to win the division, they will need Edmunds to take on a bigger leadership role on the defensive side of the ball. We know he’s going to do that because that’s the upward trajectory of where his promising NFL career is going. However, the Bills need to see more out of his draft classmate Josh Allen at the quarterback position to ensure it’s going to happen.
With Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his free agency, it leaves the door wide open for all four AFC East teams to fight for the division crown. Buffalo may have the best shot of doing it, but New England, the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets will all have a say in which of them hosts a home playoff game in January 2021.
Buffalo has the football culture and the talent to win around 10 or 11 games this season. Though the schedule is a bit tougher than it was a season ago, people are high on the Bills, viewing them as possibly the third-best team in the AFC behind only the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs in some order.
When you have a player like Edmunds who is young, talented, disciplined and of high character, you have yourself an incredible building block to formulate a winning culture around. Buffalo may never win games with a high-octane offense like with the K-Gun in the 1990s, but the Bills can win big with the team they’re building up in Orchard Park. Edmunds is a huge part of their future.
As Edmunds continues to improve as player and as a leader, so too will the Bills as a team.