2019 NFL Draft Prospects: Safeties - Mike Edwards, Kentucky

A three-star recruit coming out of high school, Mike Edwards decided to redshirt his first year at Lexington. He really impressed his coaches as a freshman and started the final five games of the season. Over the last three years he has started all 39 games, in which he recorded 278 tackles, nine interceptions and 21 pass-deflections. While it took until 2018 for the Associated Press to agree on Edwards as a second-team All-SEC selection, he never missed a game for the Wildcats and consistently was among the nation’s best defensive backs.

Edwards brings a serious swagger to the field and daps his teammates up constantly. He was an important run defender for the Wildcats out of the slot or as a hang-defender, where he showed no hesitation to shoot upfield against the run and force running backs to cut back inside.

Edwards slips by blockers and forces multiple negative plays (9.5 tackles for loss in 2018). He plays with tenacious pursuit at all times and possesses excellent closing speed. Edwards is a tremendous blitzer off the edge, who doesn’t give anything away, where he can turn the arc and cut ball-carriers down by their feet, chase them down from behind or put heat on opposing quarterbacks. When he can meet a ball-carrier straight up in the open field, he is a textbook tackler.

The former Wildcat star is very hands-on in man-coverage and has the quickness to stay attached to receivers out of their breaks. He took on the challenge of covering Ole Miss’ A.J. Brown one-on-one on several snaps and didn’t back down an inch. Edwards is at his best covering shallow zones and reacting to what is happening underneath. He is excellent at passing on assignments, jumping in between windows and finding the area quarterbacks want to attack on the fly.

Edwards has come up huge when the Wildcats really needed him, sealing three games with interceptions these last two years. During Senior Bowl practice Edwards took several corners rep in one-on-one drills with the receivers and looked very comfortable doing so.

With that being said, Edwards definitely struggles to disengage from bigger bodies and really gets pushed around by some tight ends. He has missed a combined 54 tackles over his three years as a starter and was put on the highlight tape of D’Andre Swift when Edwards came in at full speed, but had the dead-leg put on him by the Georgia running back, who went on for a touchdown.

The lack of size the Kentucky safety has makes his susceptible to push-offs by receivers and his style is a little to grabby for NFL officials. Edwards lets pump-fakes take fool him and even take him out of the play on some occasions. However, what will really limit his scheme fits is the fact that he simply doesn’t have the range to be trusted by himself in deep coverage.

Edwards is a tough competitor, who filled multiple roles for Kentucky’s defense. His best fit at the next will either be as a full-time nickel or a scheme that utilizes him heavily in underneath coverage and as a blitzer. I think if used correctly, Edwards can be a valuable addition to a team, but he can be exposed if left on an island all by himself or asking him to protect against true speedsters down the field.

Grade: Fourth Round