LA Rams: LG David Edwards relishes his anonymity
In LA Rams News: You seldom read much about Rams left guard David Edwards, who is fine with that. You see, David Edwards relishes his anonymity
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LG David Edwards relishes his anonymity
The only time that an offensive lineman enjoys seeing his name in the news is when he has signed a new contract, he has been named to an NFL award or honor, or when he is the keynote speaker for a Super Bowl victory dinner. Other than that? Seeing his name in the news is more often tied to what they’ve done wrong than right. But on this occasion, we’re here to celebrate what LA Rams offensive line David Edwards has accomplished and what he means to the LA Rams future.We talk frequently about how successful the LA Rams have been at drafting NFL-caliber players on day three but failed to include David Edwards in that role call. That’s on us. After all, since being drafted with the 169th pick (Round 5) of the 2019 NFL Draft, Edwards has played in 32 NFL games and started in 24. How has he done? Well, the ability to track how effective an offensive lineman is a bit like trying to measure Air Quality. If it’s good, it’s invisible. But when it’s bad, you can see signs of it everywhere.
The Wisconsin Badger was surprisingly raw coming out of college, and many expected a year on the bench to develop. Well, injuries in 2019 mandated an early debut, and he seemed to do well enough, but the standard stats completely ignore offensive linemen.
Of course, you can always rely upon NFL grading services like Pro Football Focus. If you do, you’ll discover that Edwards played rather effectively in 2020, committing one flagged penalty and giving up three quarterback sacks over 1006 offensive snaps. His overall grade came in at 70.6 for the season.
As you mull over whether or not you like that grade, keep this in mind. Due to the fact that he was drafted so late, Edwards’s salary was just over $740,000 in 2020 and will come in under $1 million for 2021. He will cross the million-dollar mark in 2022, but only just. In the end, he is an incredible bargain for this LA Rams offense.
More fun facts about David Edwards
The LA Rams offensive line may have played well in 2020, but the team certainly had its share of injuries. in just the second game of the season, starting left guard Joseph Noteboom suffered a calf injury. That necessitated the LA Rams to promote David Edwards into that spot on the offensive line, where he would remain for the duration of the entire season.
View: https://twitter.com/stujrams/status/1321888419060985856?s=21
That decision to keep Edwards at left guard proved prophetically wise, as left tackle Andrew Whitworth suffered a knee injury in the ninth game of the season.
His replacement? The now healthy Joseph Noteboom. Unfortunately, Edwards suffered from tendonitis late in the season and became a day-to-day decision. He finally was unable to go against the Green Bay Packers, and the struggles of his replacement Bobby Evans in that game have become the benchmark for those who are dissatisfied with the Rams offensive line play.
Still, Edwards dug in at the left guard position and handled business there rather well. The 6-foot-6 308-pound offensive lineman is one of the high-school quarterbacks who understands the game of football at a level far above his line of scrimmage role might dictate. But where he excels in football IQ, his transition from QB to TE to OT to now OG has been a cascading effect of On-the-Job-Training (OJT). That has given Edwards a wide breadth of football experience, although it was slowed his proficiency at offensive guard.
Of course, if you watched the 2020 HBO Hard Knocks series, you know another reason why NFL offensive linemen like to remain anonymous. This video clip of David Edwards poking himself with his straw had gone viral
View: https://youtu.be/k4g5J4tdIOE
I’m sorry about this Dave. But it’s an unspoken rule that any articles featuring Edwards must include the HBO Hard Knocks video clip. Of course, when covering the two-year career of an offensive lineman, this is the type of event that becomes newsworthy. Edwards of course was rushed through the 2020 crash-course-training camp projected to be a backup. For the second consecutive year, he was forced back into the starters due to an injury to a teammate.
Day three drafted rookie to starting offensive lineman
Now, keep in mind that David Edwards was graded as a backup/special team player in his 2019 NFL Draft profile. His NFL success (finding an impact offensive lineman on day three is a success) is all thanks to offensive line coach Aaron Kromer. While Kromer is no longer with the team, his legacy of crosstraining offensive linemen at all positions is still paying huge dividends for the Rams today. Edwards was drafted as an offensive tackle, but he slid inside to play offensive right guard in 2019, and offensive left guard in 2020.
While Edwards has not turned in a Pro Bowl season yet, 2021 is the first year in his career where he is entering the season as a starting offensive lineman. On that same line of thinking, it’s his first season where he is returning to play the same offensive line position that he played at one year ago.
It’s easy for fans to list offensive linemen as a priority for each NFL Draft because it’s easy to overlook the fact that they have a solid starter from the 2019 NFL Draft. Was he a headliner? No, just a young man with a dream of playing the sport he loves, and so far he’s doing a pretty good job of it.
Edwards improves each season, and with 2021 featuring an almost normal offseason that includes Organized Teams Activities (OTAs) and preseason games, his progress should be noticeable this year. Of course, if you fail to notice, that’s okay too. Like many NFL offensive linemen, David Edwards relishes his anonymity. But I hope he’ll be okay if we give him a solid on how well he’s played so far.
