Should You Fade T.J. Edwards in 2023?

Photo: Bill Streicher, USA Today Sports

It is a tale as old as time. The unwavering underdog in Philadelphia consistently improves his craft and ultimately shines amongst the greats in his respective sport. Whether you’re a fan of the Rocky series or the Philadelphia Eagles, this story applied. Linebacker T.J. Edwards has ascended from undrafted free agent to a top-three IDP linebacker seemingly overnight. Some may say I am crazy to suggest this player may come crashing down to Earth, considering we have seen growth from year-to-year. It would be easy to plot his data on a line graph; just trace your marker upward. So what gives? Why do we need to fade this top asset? There’s a variety of reasons why, but we have to first start with his ascension to this status.

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T.J. Edwards Making His Name

Edwards started his career undrafted out of Wisconsin. He signed on with the Eagles in 2019 and only started 4 total games as a rookie. During the 2020 season, we finally saw him emerge as a fantasy-relevant player, where he compiled 70 total tackles and two sacks. The next two years really showed us the best version of Edwards. In 2021 he had 130 total tackles, and in 2022, he had an astounding 159 total tackles, which was seventh in the league. Over the course of his four-year career, we have seen Edwards come from an undrafted player who barely saw the field to a top-five dynasty linebacker. The 26-year-old linebacker was a dynasty manager’s dream and a redraft manager’s darling pick. He was a can’t-miss, won’t-miss talent that had three straight career-high years. Until his situation and circumstance changed.

Change of Scenery

During his time in Philadelphia, once Edwards ascended the depth chart, he was a big fish in a small linebacker pond. His contemporaries during the 2021 and 2022 seasons included Genard Avery, Shaun Bradley, Nakobe Dean, Alex Singleton, and Kyzir White. This isn’t exactly a who’s who of linebackers, so the points were ripe for the picking, and Edwards didn’t hesitate. He is now a member of the Chicago Bears, a team known for great linebacker play, but he now may be a small fish in a big pond. His competition now consists of Tremaine Edmunds and IDP darling Jack Sanborn. Edmunds has been a consistent performer for his previous team as well, and Jack Sanborn had an Edwards-like trajectory in his own right for the Bears this past season. All three of these players are listed as the starting linebackers for the Bears, where Edwards is slated as the Strong Side Linebacker. With Edmunds manning the middle, he appears to be the safest IDP option in a Bears system we have seen elevate the middle linebacker scoring (Let’s not forget the IDP dominance of Roquan Smith during his tenure). While I find it hard to believe Sanborn will continue the pace he set himself last season prior to the injury, it is important to note that he isn’t just going to go away. He proved himself last year as a credible linebacker talent, and he is the man most familiar with the Bears scheme, although he is only a second-year player. One more interesting fact that we should keep in mind, Sanborn is also an undrafted linebacker from Wisconsin and is virtually identical to Edwards physically.