‘A humble superstar’: Conway native, USC alum Edwards coveted by many as NFL Draft nears
The records are probably what stand out the most.
Conway native and Conway High grad Bryan Edwards holds most of the primary career receiving records at the University of South Carolina.
So those, and the talents that Edwards displayed in setting them over the past four years, make him an attractive option for coaches and executives of the 32 teams taking part in this week’s NFL Draft, which begins Thursday.
Yet what might play as big a role in how high Edwards goes in the draft is the character he will bring to a roster and locker room.
“General managers of teams he’s talked to speak very highly of who he is as a person, his character,” said Edwards’ agent, Tory Dandy with Creative Artists Agency (CAA). “Most teams talk a lot to his college coaches and people at USC, and everybody just raves about the kind of young man Bryan is.
“I call Bryan a humble superstar. He’s the all-time leading receiver at South Carolina. But meeting him, he’s well-mannered, he’s very humble, he’s very appreciative. He doesn’t have that entitled mindset. He’s a hard worker.”
Edwards’ high school coach at Conway, Chuck Jordan, imparted a call he had with a representative of an NFL team who said he had spent several years in the FBI and was looking into Edwards’ background.
“He said, ‘You’d be surprised what I find on some of these kids. I’ve tried to dig stuff up and I can’t find anything on Bryan,’” Jordan said. “He said his value probably extends a little beyond his abilities because of the kind of person he is.”
The draft’s first round is Thursday, the second and third rounds are Friday, and rounds 4-7 are Saturday.
Edwards is widely projected to be selected in the second through fourth rounds. “Bryan certainly has first-round talent and ability, but I think most people see him now in that second- or third-round range,” Dandy said.
The NFL awaits
Edwards was not able to perform in front of NFL scouts leading up to the draft as he had hoped. He was selected to participate in the Reese’s Senior Bowl but missed with an injury; a broken foot kept him from competing in the NFL Combine in late February; and USC’s scheduled Pro Day on March 19 was canceled because of the coronavirus.
“Unfortunately he had the injury a couple weeks before the Combine, which certainly was a setback,” Dandy said. “But at the same time Bryan has certainly put together a heck of a career at South Carolina, and that film never lies.”
On Feb. 2, Edwards broke the fifth metatarsal on his left foot, which is connected to the small toe on the side of the foot. It happened when he made a cut while running a route in preparation for the Combine.
He had surgery and recently took off a protective boot, and will be cleared for all football activities within a couple weeks.
“I’m feeling well, no pain right now. I’m finally out of the boot and finally back into shoes and working the game back to playing football,” said Edwards, who has been able to have private workouts at a couple gyms in Columbia.
Dandy said he sent updated X-ray images to show the foot is healing to all 32 NFL teams’ general managers and trainers, and this past week sent videos of Edwards doing leg weight lifting activities without the boot.
Edwards is listed as the No. 10 wide receiver prospect by NFL.com in an extremely good and deep class of the position with a grade that places him squarely in the projection of being a “starter within the first two seasons.”
At 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, Edwards combines good size with good speed, giving him the ability to win one-on-one battles for the ball while also stretching the field.
“So you start looking at teams who could use somebody like that — it’s darn near all of them,” said draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network.
Players ranked at or near the top of the draft class include Oklahoma’s Ceedee Lamb, Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III, LSU’s Justin Jefferson and Clemson’s Tee Higgins.
“The guys in this class, it’s going to be a fun experience to see where we all play out, and 10 years down the line see how it all unfolds,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he has had follow-up interviews with about a dozen teams since he initially met executives with several NFL teams during the NFL Combine in late February.
The follow-ups include the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills, according to Edwards and Dandy.
“It’s kind of hard to gauge which one will be choosing me,” Edwards said. “I just want to go somewhere where hopefully I fit well. That’s all I’m kind of hoping for. Wherever I go I just hope I can fit in well and do a great job.”
Normally, Edwards would either be traveling or hosting representatives of NFL teams for interviews, but this year neither team reps nor players are allowed to make those trips. So Edwards has had video chats with prospective teams.
“It has been crazy with everything going on, especially with this foot injury and the coronavirus stuff, but I’ve just been taking it one day at a time,” Edwards said. “It has been pretty smooth because it has allowed me to stay home and be able to do my rehab and not have to travel back and forth to meet with teams. It has been an experience to say the least.
“. . .I feel like this part of the process is kind of business. It’s kind of like a big job interview,” Edwards said.
Edwards plans to watch the draft in the Spartanburg area with family friends including his parents, girlfriend and 7-month-old son. “I’m going to appreciate that moment and enjoy it with my family,” he said.
Having an infant child has given Edwards another focus in addition to football. “It has just given me another responsibility and is making me step up to the plate to try to be a parent,” Edwards said.
The best at USC
Edwards owns the Gamecocks’ career receptions (234) and receiving yards (3,045) marks, as well as most consecutive games with a catch (48) with a reception in every game in which he appeared. He also ranks third in school history with 22 career receiving touchdowns, just one behind both Sidney Rice and Alshon Jeffery.
This past season, Edwards led the Gamecocks with 71 catches, 816 receiving yards and six touchdowns, and had five catches or more in nine of his 10 games — a knee injury kept him out of the final two games against Texas A&M and Clemson.
“There have been some great receivers who have come through South Carolina like Sterling Sharpe, Sidney Rice, Alshon Jeffery, and for me to finish on top of the list in some receiving categories means a lot to me and it shows me I can make it in this [NFL] league and I can be a productive player,” Edwards said.
In addition to his statistics, Edwards’ team honors exemplify how widely respected he was by his teammates and coaches.
He was a 2019 team captain — as he was at Conway High — and won the 2019 team MVP, Most Explosive Player, Steve Spurrier Offense MVP, and Offense Tenacity awards. In previous years he won the 2017 Spurrier award, and 2018 Strength & Conditioning and Harold White GPA awards.
“My experience there was something I’ll never forget. I’m glad I’ve got those records, something that’s always going to stand and always going to be there that I can look back on, so I’m thankful for everything,” said Edwards, who has a degree in sports marketing.
“My impact on my teammates and everything I did there on campus, it kind of felt like a home for me, a home away from home.”
NFL Draft expert analysis
Here’s what two NFL Draft analysts had to say about Edwards last week.
▪ Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network, a former scout with the Ravens, Browns and Philadelphia Eagles:
“I think he’s got a skillset that just about every team is going to covet for what he can do. He’s someone that reminds me a lot of [Chris] Godwin, the way he plays, when you watched Godwin coming out of college and you’ve seen obviously what he’s been able to do at the NFL level with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
“Just very physical, he can play inside he can play outside. You watch the Alabama game and what he does on a reverse in that game to a corner should be illegal. Everybody that I talked to at South Carolina, and I’ve talked to a bunch of their coaches about him, just say this kid is a pro. He trains like a pro, he handles himself like a pro, he’s been that way since he got there.
“He’s my 94th player, so that’s where I see him going in this draft. Allen Robinson (of the Chicago Bears) and Godwin, he’s got that type of ability. So you start looking at teams who could use somebody like that, it’s darn near all of them. If I had to script the perfect one it would be Buffalo, because they have so much skill and speed in kind of smaller packages with their receiving corps. They don’t have a kid like this. So that would be a fun match to me, to put him in Buffalo.”
▪ Jim Nagy of ESPN, also executive director of Reese’s Senior Bowl:
“Bryan was one of my favorite guys in this class, so it was a bummer that he couldn’t compete down here [in the Senior Bowl]. I just love his mindset. I love his physicality. I love just his play strength. To me he’s just an NFL wideout. I was at the Alabama game, and just the aggression that he played with in that game, he’s just a really good football player, the fact that he plays on special teams and all that stuff.
“Now he’s had some injury stuff. Talking to guys in the league, it’s dropped him a little bit, unfortunately. The medical grades are all coming back and whatnot. He might not go where I thought he would go in the fall, but if those injuries don’t play a part, he’s one of the best receivers in this class. And everyone talks about it being such a deep class, he’d be way up there for me.
“He and I have texted back and forth during the spring. I’m pulling for him. I hope he can stay healthy and I hope the medical thing doesn’t hold him back at the next level because if he’s healthy, he’s a damn good football player.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 2:05 AM.
