Fe'Zahn Tremaine Edmunds (born May 2, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

Early years

Edmunds attended

Dan River High School Ringgold is an unincorporated community in Pittsylvania County in the U.S. state of Virginia with a postal zip code 24586. The community was named after Maj. Samuel Ringgold, a hero of the Battle of Palo Alto in the U.S.-Mexican War. Ringgol ...

Ringgold, Virginia Ringgold is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County in the U.S. state of Virginia with a postal zip code 24586. The community was named after Samuel Ringgold (soldier), Maj. Samuel R ...

. As a three-year letter, Edmunds appeared at linebacker, defensive end, and tight end. During his junior season alone, Edmunds accumulated 123 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, two blocked kicks, and two forced fumbles, and was nominated for Virginia's defensive player of the year. He would miss most of his senior season due to an injury, but he was nonetheless named all-state at both tight end and linebacker. A 3-star recruit, Edmunds committed to play football at

over various offers from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, among others.

College career

Edmunds played at Virginia Tech from 2015 to 2017 under head coaches

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is a retired American college football coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and former college football player. He is the father of current South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane ...

and

Justin Fuente Justin James Fuente (born July 30, 1976) is a former American football coach and player. He was the head football coach at Virginia Tech from 2016 to 2021. He was the 2016 ACC Coach of the Year. Fuente was the head football coach at the Universit ...

. As a junior in 2017, he was a finalist for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

after recording 108 tackles and 5.5 sacks. After the season, he decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

. He finished his career with 213 tackles, 10 sacks, and 1 interception.

Professional career

On January 10, 2018, Edmunds released a statement through

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

announcing his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the

. Edmunds attended the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and vertical jump. Among all linebackers performing at the NFL Combine, Edmunds finished fifth in the 40-yard dash, 12th in the broad jump, and tied for 14th in the bench press. On March 14, 2018, Edmunds participated at Virginia Tech’s pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He attended pre-draft visits with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Edmunds was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the top outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

analyst Jeff Legwold. He was also ranked as the second best stack linebacker by

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

and the second best linebacker in the draft by NFL analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock (born August 14, 1958) is a former American football executive and former player who served as the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) from 2019 to 2021. Mayock was a safety with ...

2018

The

selected Edmunds in the first round (16th overall) of the

. In order to select Edmunds, the Buffalo Bills traded their first (22nd overall) and third round (65th overall) picks to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in exchange for a first round pick (16th overall) and a fifth round pick (154th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft. Edmunds became the second youngest player to be drafted in NFL history at 19 years 11 months 24 days old, only behind Amobi Okoye at 19 years old 10 months 18 days, in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. Edmunds’ brother,

Terrell Terrell, Terell, Terrel, or Terrelle may refer to: Places United States *Terrell, Georgia, unincorporated community *Terrell, North Carolina, unincorporated community in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States *Terrell, Texas, city in Kau ...

, went on to be drafted in the first round (28th overall) by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. Terrell’s selection earned them the distinction of becoming the first pair of brothers to be drafted in the first round of the same draft in NFL history. On May 12, 2018, the Buffalo Bills signed Edmunds to a fully guaranteed four-year, $12.65 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $7.28 million. He entered training camp slated as the starting middle linebacker after Preston Brown departed in free agency. Head coach

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001, ...

named Edmunds the starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season. He started alongside outside linebackers

Matt Milano Matthew Vincent Milano (born July 28, 1994) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College. College career Milano attended and played college footb ...

and

Lorenzo Alexander Lorenzo John Alexander (born May 31, 1983) is a American football linebacker who played in the NFL for 15 seasons playing a majority with the Washington Redskins. He played college football for the University of California, and was signed as an ...

He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Buffalo Bills’ season-opener at the

and recorded seven combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first career sack during their 47–3 loss. Edmunds made his first career sack on Ravens’ quarterback

Joe Flacco Joseph Vincent Flacco (born January 16, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Delaware after transferring from Pittsburgh and was drafted by the Baltim ...

for less than a one-yard loss in the second quarter. Edmunds recorded his first NFL interception against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in week 14, picking off

Sam Darnold Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, where he became the first freshman to win the Archie Griffin Awar ...

. At age 20, he became the youngest NFL player ever to record an interception. Following a strong month of play, Edmunds was named the NFL defensive rookie of the month in December after recording 43 tackles, 4 passes defended, 1 sack and 2 interceptions. Overall, he recorded 121 total tackles on the year with two sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

2019

Edmunds was named a team captain at the beginning of the year. He notched his first sack of the season in week 10 against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, taking down quarterback

Baker Mayfield Baker Reagan Mayfield (born April 14, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Texas Tech, Mayfield played college football at Oklahoma, where he won the Hei ...

in the endzone for a Bills

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. In week 11 against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, Edmunds recorded a team high 12 tackles and made a half sack on

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

in the 37–20 win. In week 14 against the

, Edmunds recorded 8 tackles and his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by

Lamar Jackson Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Louisville, where he won the Heisman Trophy during his soph ...

during the 24–17 loss. In the AFC wild card game against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, Edmunds recorded a team high 12 tackles, sacked quarterback

Deshaun Watson Derrick Deshaun Watson (born September 14, 1995) is an American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players ...

once, and recovered a fumble forced by Tre'Davious White on

DeAndre Hopkins DeAndre Rashaun Hopkins (born June 6, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round o ...

during the 22–19 overtime loss. Edmunds started every game in his sophomore season, recording 1 interception, 1 1/2 sacks, and 115 tackles. Edmunds was named to the

2020 Pro Bowl The 2020 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2019 NFL season. It was played on January 26, 2020, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and was televised nationally by ESPN, while being simulcast on ABC and Dis ...

, the first Pro Bowl of his career, in replacement of the injured

Dont'a Hightower Qualin Dont'a Hightower (born March 12, 1990) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Alabama, receiving consensus All-American honors and winning two BCS National Championships. Hightower was selec ...

2020

In Week 9 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, Edmunds recorded a team high 11 tackles and sacked

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

once during the 44–34 win. Despite dealing with a lingering shoulder injury suffered during week 1 against the

, Edmunds was able to garner his second Pro-Bowl selection with his play after recovering. In 15 games, Edmunds recorded 119 tackles (77 solo), two sacks, four tackles for a loss and three passes defended. In Buffalo's two playoff wins, he recorded nine tackles each game and broke up three passes. He would then record seven tackles in Buffalo's 38-24 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.

2021

In May 2021, the Bills exercised the fifth-year option on Edmunds' rookie contract, worth a guaranteed $12.716 million for the 2022 season. In Week 4, Edmunds recorded six tackles and an interception in a 40-0 win over the Texans, earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Personal life

His brothers,

Trey Trey may refer to: Places * Trey, Switzerland, a commune in Vaud, Switzerland * Trey Peaks, Coats Land, Antarctica Other uses * Trey (playing card), the Three in card games * Trey (given name) * Trey, slang for a three-point shot in basketball ...

and

also played college football at Virginia Tech. Terrell was also drafted in the 2018 NFL Draft in the first round by the

while Trey is a free agent who has played for the

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. Their father, Ferrell Edmunds, also played in the NFL, appearing in two Pro Bowls. Tremaine and Terrell Edmunds are the first set of brothers to be drafted in the first round of the same

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

References

External links

Virginia Tech Hokies bio
*
Buffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmunds, Tremaine 1998 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American football linebackers Buffalo Bills players Players of American football from Virginia Sportspeople from Danville, Virginia Virginia Tech Hokies football players