Virginia Tech Gets Seventh Verbal Commitment Of 2014 Class In Terrell Edmunds

Just heard the news about Terrell Edmunds, the younger brother of Trey, committing to the #Hokies. Will try to get more news on this.

— GobblerCountry.com (@gobblercountry) April 24, 2013

Edmunds commitment was reported this morning via Twitter, and caught many of us recruitniks off guard. In fact, Scout had never even heard of Edmunds (or at least did not have him listed as a prospect in their database). It was also announced that Edmunds only other two offers to date were Cincinnati and Hampton, so not too many on the recruiting circuit, whether analysts or coaches, are very familiar with him. Perhaps he will be just the latest in the under-the-radar Tech commitment that blooms in college and makes everyone else look stupid for not offering him.

After it was reported that Edmunds' high school coach (and father), Ferrell Edmunds, a former NFL tight end and two-time Pro Bowler, confirmed his commitment, several of the recruiting sites jumped on the story. Rivals was the first one to it, so we'll start with his profile there first. Edmunds has not been rated, but they do have him listed as a cornerback. 247Sports also has a profile for Edmunds, but have also not rated him. They do however have him listed as an athlete, which I believe is more accurate. ESPN, however, has him as a safety, a position he did not play in any of his highlight tapes. Perhaps given his size, they are trying to project where he'll end up, and honestly, after watching his tapes, safety, and more specifically rover, might be a possibility if he can learn the position.

So with all that discussion to take into consideration, let's look at his highlight tapes, shall we?

This tape comes from his junior (2012-13 as he puts it on the video) highlights. It starts out slow, but gets better with some of his interception returns and big hits. He's a solid tackler, though not great form tackler. He makes contact and brings the guy down, but not always in the same, consistent, repeatable way that you'd hope to see. He just uses his strength and throws around his body weight.

Offensively, he's shifty enough (good agility) to make a kid miss once or twice on offense but doesn't have great speed and isn't a very powerful runner. He doesn't break many tackles. I feel like he's still very raw prospect and he may not have a true position right now.

Edmunds was decent at cornerback, though didn't really show much in terms of coverage ability on his highlight tape. But due to depth at defensive back in this past class and incoming classes, he may have trouble seeing the field there. He did okay as a running back on the tape, but I do not think that he has either the ability to run in-between the tackles or has the speed to really get big-gainers, as most of his runs from any position (not including his quarterback sneaks) were no more than 5-10 yards. Plus with the influx of talent the Hokies have at running back, especially with the addition of Drew Harris (should that ever happen), he would be hard-pressed to find playing time there.

He did well on a lot of outside stretch runs and screen passes, but as of now, he is too slow to be a wide receiver in my determination. However, when put in the right situation, he's good with the ball in his hands. His best position right now would probably be on the offensive side of the ball because of that, but he doesn't have a real dedicated position. I would suggest that as of right now his best position might be kind of like a wildcat quarterback like Carlis Parker is going to be doing this fall, or even an H-back.

Though he looked good at quarterback in what little highlight tape he did have at the position (passing that is), I think it would be a reach to say that the Hokies were recruiting him as a quarterback with such a strong quarterback class this year where the Hokies are actively pursuing big-name quarterbacks and with the commitment of Bucky Hodges last year.

I also managed to round up some of of his sophomore highlights as well, and wouldn't you know it, I enjoyed watching them a lot more. His sophomore highlights are filled with big plays and better tackles/bigger hits than were on his junior tape.

Watch the play that begins at around 1:04, where Edmunds makes the tackle on a player that jukes and is by him. Then wait for a few seconds to see Edmunds jump up and thrust THE BALL into the air! Wait, he has the ball!? Yes, and the referee promptly awards Dan River possession. That is an amazing play.

Also check out the play that begins around 2:13. Edmunds catches a short pass, and instead of turning back outside like receivers are taught to do there (and the good ones just know to do), he cuts across the middle of the field, breaks a tackle and picks up a few yards...BUT WAIT. He drags three tacklers ten yards before being mobbed by six players, who stop his momentum, but STILL fail to bring him down. He breaks free after it's blown dead with a kind of "get off me" shrug.

It is unclear obviously where Edmunds will end up positionally, but with improvement of his speed and power as a runner in his senior year, coupled with probably a redshirt year in 2014 with Virginia Tech, I think he can become an effective player at Virginia Tech. I don't know where exactly, but Tech's coaches know how to find a place to get their best players on the field (usually). So if you were at all worried (like I was) that this was simply a make-good commitment to keep Trey happy and perhaps persuade their younger brother to attend, you can rest assured that Terrell is a legitimate prospect, though raw, who should see his recruiting rankings and interest in him raise considerably throughout his senior season.

For more recruiting analysis of Virginia Tech commitments, Gobbler Country is your place to be.