Bills Trade Up for 19-Year Old Tremaine Edmunds and Twitter Is Excited

The Buffalo Bills boosted their defense by selecting linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with the 16th overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft Thursday. 

The praise for the Bills was almost universal after they added Edmunds:

Edmunds is the second first-round pick for Buffalo after the Bills selected Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick.

Buffalo also traded up in order to get Edmunds. The team announced it sent the 22nd, 65th and 154th picks to the Baltimore Ravens.

Edmunds spent the past three seasons as a key piece of Virginia Tech's defense, appearing in all 40 games for the Hokies since his debut in 2015. He was a playmaking machine, recording more than 200 total tackles in 2016 and 2017 combined.

That production, married with rare physical attributes, made Edmunds a highly regarded NFL prospect. He's listed at 6'5" and 253 pounds, with one scout offering a glowing report.

"Good luck with your player comp on this one," the NFC regional scout said, per NFL Media's Lance Zierlein. "They don't come like him. I don't think there has ever been a linebacker that has had his size and speed. You're better off comping him with a basketball player."

Bob Sturm of The Athletic offered the following assessment about Edmunds' size and how his athleticism could translate to the NFL:

ESPN.com's Mike Sando noted in 2007 that NFL teams that utilized a 4-3 defense tended to favor speed over size at linebacker because of the increased emphasis on blitzing and coverage.

Edmunds' ability to use his size and speed in the college game was good enough to get him drafted in the first round, so the Bills clearly hope he can be an exception to the linebacker rule.

The Virginia native has an incredible physical package and youth to tout heading into the NFL. He turns 20 on Wednesday, so he could enjoy a longer career than the typical draftee at his position.