Donnie Edwards

There is a lot to like about Donnie Edwards. He's one of the few men in the NFL to have recorded 100 total tackles in each of the last 10 seasons. He has missed just two games in 11 years, and they were both in the last century. That's 137 consecutive regular-season games, exactly what you want from a do-everything linebacker who you can just draft and play, knowing he will be there week in and week out scoring big. In fact, he turned in fewer than five fantasy points just once last year. Edwards is a bit undersized and can get swallowed up by big linemen, but his game is all about speed, range, elusiveness, intelligence, experience and instincts. He's also a terror in coverage, picking off 17 passes in his five years in San Diego. Despite weighing just 227, his tackling skills are strong with more total tackles in each of the last four years than in any previous year. Last year was a down year with "just" 142 total tackles, but he did miss most of the preseason with a back problem and started slowly. This year he's back with Kansas City, where he excelled before moving to San Diego. It's a different system, of course, but Kansas City coach Herman Edwards oversaw Jonathan Vilma's ascendance in New York as coach of the Jets.

If there’s one word to describe Edwards, unfortunately, it’s “underrated.” In the past four years, he’s been second three times and first once (2004) in the year-end linebacker standings. After Edwards’ league-leading 2004, we projected him second in 2005, and that’s how he finished. But we had Ray Lewis first, and that didn’t work out. Edwards should have stood atop the preseason rankings last year, and does so this year, easily. He’s had 100 or more solo tackles four years running and in five of the last six. Only Jonathan Vilma had more solo tackles than Edwards last year. In 10 pro seasons he’s missed just two games. He’s made five interceptions in a single season three times in his career, most recently in 2004, and has a career high of six sacks. Last year, he never had fewer than four solo tackles in a game, so he contributes every week. In San Diego’s 3-4, he gets plenty of protection from a line of three 300-pounders and has some of the best play anticipation in the league to beat blockers to the hole. Statistically, he does everything and does it more consistently than just about anyone else. In the fantasy world, that’s bank. Two caveats: he’s stuck in the middle of the war between coach Marty Schottenheimer, his benefactor, and San Diego general manager A.J. Smith, so there’s a chance he could be traded and used differently on another team. He also had arthroscopic surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee. At 33, and relying on evading blockers rather than stacking and shedding, he does run the risk of an inevitable downturn. Just don’t bet on it this year.

After three years in which Edwards has ranked second, second and first among fantasy linebackers, it’s tough to drop him behind Lewis, but that’s what we’ve done. Edwards will get you 100-plus solo tackles– he’s done it (or a hair shy) six years running, and has played 16 games in all six of those seasons. While he hasn’t had more than two sacks in many moons, he’s racked up 12 picks over the past three years and continues to excel in pass coverage late in his career, averaging 6.3 passes defended in his three years in San Diego. Consistency is his calling card. He reached five solo tackles in all but four games (though he topped seven solo tackles in just three contests). That’s a lot of fives, sixes and sevens you’ll be happy to see in your box score each week.

Edwards is working on five straight seasons of his own with at least 100 solo stops, and last year had only three games in which he scored fewer than six fantasy points, taking a ton of the guesswork out of who to start every week (as if you’d have better options). Since his move to San Diego, Edwards has moved completely away from the pass rush to using his speed in coverage, so expect at least two interceptions and upward of double digits in passes defended.

Edwards had 100 solo tackles in 2002, and though he didn't record a sack, he more than made up for it with five interceptions and 11 passes defensed. Edwards, an undersized backer at 6-2, 227, is one of the fastest players in the league at his position, and as such is often dropped back into coverage, which explains his excellent coverage stats. While Edwards didn't record a pick in 2001, he had two in 2000 and five in 1999, so you should probably expect two or three more in 2003.