In a new series that CUSportsNation.com will be running over the next couple of weeks, we'll be going through the top offensive and defensive players in 2018 according to Pro Football Focus' analytics. We started with the defensive, and defensive lineman Javier Edwards makes the top 3.
Note: Players needed to have seen 250 snaps in order to be on this list... 16 Buff defenders played 250+ snaps
2018 STATS
36 tackles (25 unassisted tackles)
1 sack
2 tackles for loss
4 quarterback pressures
TOP GAME OF THE SEASON
According to Pro Football Focus, Edwards' top game of the season actually came against Nebraska, which is surprising given how bad the Buffs' run defense was in that contest. But Edwards was strong individually in run defense and tackling, recording six tackles and did not miss a single tackle.
OUTLOOK ON EDWARDS
Edwards signed with CU as a junior college recruit in the class of 2017 and started both seasons at CU at nose tackle. He has exhausted his eligibility. Edwards made a pretty big jump from 2017 to 2018, as his snap count jumped from 365 to 529, and his season grade jumped from 61.4 to 76.9. I'm not sure of Edwards' NFL chances at this point, but he certainly has the size to play nose in the pros.
Top Buff defenders in 2018
No. 10 Rick Gamboa (65.8 grade)
No. 9 Derrion Rakestraw (70.5 grade)
No. 8 Evan Worthington (71.9 grade)
No. 7 Israel Antwine (72.3 grade)
No. 6 Delrick Abrams Jr. (72.5 grade)
No. 5 Davion Taylor (74.1 grade)
No. 4 Drew Lewis (74.7 grade)
