By Kevin Gorman
July 25, 2018
The Steelers' Terrell Edmunds goes through drills during rookie mini camp Saturday, May 12.
If Terrell Edmunds was sweating it out Wednesday, it wasn’t because the Steelers first-round pick didn’t sign his contract until the 11th hour before the start of training camp at Saint Vincent.
No, it was the hoodie.
Edmunds tucked his shoulder-length dreadlocks under a hooded sweatshirt on this humid afternoon, but the rookie safety didn’t dare disguise his desire to prove worthy of the $10.78-million investment the Steelers made when they signed him to a four-year deal a day earlier. If that sounds like pressure, it’s nothing compared to what he places upon himself: Nothing short of perfection will satisfy Edmunds, who also didn’t hide his intentions to earn a starting role for this season.
“Regardless if you’re a first-round pick or a free agent, when you’re out there on the field the coaches are going to expect you to excel,” Edmunds said. “They’re going to expect you to make plays. They’re going to expect you to be perfect while you’re out there because they want to be perfect while you’re out there, the same way I want to.
“Honestly, I don’t really feel too much pressure. Everyone has their expectations. I know my personal expectations, and I know what I’m capable of doing, so I’m just ready to go out there and compete and show everybody else what I’m capable of doing.”
And just what is Edmunds capable of doing?
“I would say I’m a ballplayer. I’m not too much of an ‘eye’ guy or anything like that,” Edmunds said, “but I definitely know that I can go out there and compete … and put everything on display.”
That will give us our first true glimpse of Edmunds, a 6-foot-1, 217-pounder from Virginia Tech who is expected to provide pop to a secondary in transition. The Steelers have had more movement at safety than any other position, so the opportunity is there for Edmunds to make an immediate impression.
The Steelers parted ways with starting free safety Mike Mitchell and top backup Robert Golden, signed free agents Morgan Burnett from the Packers and Nat Berhe from the Giants and drafted Edmunds in the first round and Marcus Allen of Penn State in the fifth.
No wonder Mike Tomlin talked about this as an “active, active training camp” for the position, the Steelers coach expressing his excitement to watch the physicality of players he hasn’t “worked with professionally before in a padded setting.” That was Tomlin’s way of saying he won’t know what the Steelers have at safety until they conduct a full-contact practice, and the first in full pads will be Saturday at Chuck Noll Field.
After playing football in shorts at the NFL Combine and OTAs and minicamp, Edmunds can’t wait to finally start hitting. Edmunds believes he can use his physicality to push Burnett or Sean Davis for a starting job at one of the safety spots, or at least in sub-packages.
“Come on now, I’m ready for that,” Edmunds said with a smile. “I haven’t had the pads on in a while. First, you went through the whole process with the draft, running and sprints and having a track meet. We had two-hand touch in the summertime. Now, we’re about to compete and put on the pads and see who’s really a man out there.”
As much as Burnett was impressed by Edmunds’ athleticism, maturity beyond his 21 years and passion for football, the ninth-year veteran knows better than to believe the hardest hitter is the best safety. The NFL game is more complex, the schemes more nuanced, and Edmunds will be practicing against a Steelers offense with future Hall of Famers in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and receiver Antonio Brown.
“It’s a big difference,” Burnett said. “In college, you have some guys that are good. On this level, everybody is good. You’ve got to be real disciplined with your eyes because on this level, quarterbacks will look you off and make you look pretty bad out there if you’re not tuned into your technique.”
Cornerback Artie Burns, a former first-round pick, put it more bluntly: “You just don’t really know what to expect. You come in blindfolded.”
Luckily for Edmunds, he comes from a family with NFL pedigree: His father, Ferrell, was a two-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Miami Dolphins; older brother Trey is a running back for the New Orleans Saints; and younger brother Tremaine was a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills, selected 12 spots ahead of Terrell this past April. So, Terrell Edmunds came to camp with his eyes wide open.
“Honestly, I’m excited,” he said. “I’m ready for everything to get rolling. I’ve been waiting for this moment forever. This is the moment that I’ve always wanted to be in, to be a professional athlete going through a professional camp and I’m ready for everything. I’m ready to compete, ready to go out there and show them what I can do.”
No pressure, but the Steelers are hoping he’s a hit.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
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