Tremaine Edmunds

BIOGRAPHY

Ve'Zahn Tremaine Edmunds was born on May 2, 1998, in Danville, Virginia. He is a linebacker in the National Football League.

Tremaine studied at the University of Virginia and is a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. In his early years, Edmunds attended Dan River High School where he started to play football. He was ranked as the No. 16 player in the state of Virginia by The Roanoke Times and was listed as the No. 236 overall player nationally, the No. 15 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 12 player in the state of Virginia by Rivals. Edmunds was rated as the No. 24 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 15 player in his state by 247Sports, was listed as the No. 53 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 4 OLB in the East by Scout, ranked as the No. 41 outside linebacker in the country, the No. 82 player in his region and the No. 28 player in the state by ESPN Recruiting Nation. He was a member of the All-Atlantic Region Team by SuperPrep and was named first-team all-state for the Class 2A level by both the VHSL and VirginiaPreps. He was named first-team All-Conference 37 as a senior as both a linebacker and tight end, earning Defensive Back of the Year honors and recorded 120 tackles his junior season with 17 tackles for a loss and four sacks. He also had two interceptions, two blocked kicks, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble as he earned Conference 37 Defensive Back of the Year honors.

After finishing high school, Edmunds committed to the University of Virginia to play college football. In 2015, he appeared in 13 games, making two starts and logged 294 plays, including 273 on special teams and 20 as a linebacker during the regular season. He totaled 11 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss and had his collegiate debut against Ohio State. He recorded his first collegiate tackle against Purdue finishing the game with two tackles and made his first collegiate start at Georgia Tech with one tackle. In 2016, he was a First Team All-ACC,  Second Team All-ACC, Third Team All-American and First Team, Sophomore All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Week on October 24. He appeared in all 14 games, making 14 starts and totaled 106 tackles including 18.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one fumble recovery, and one INT. He recorded seven tackles and the first INT of his career against Arkansas in the Belk Bowl. In 2017, he was the ACC Linebacker of the Week on November 27. He appeared in all 13 games, making 13 starts and totaled 109 tackles including 14.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles. 

On January 10, 2018, Edmunds made the decision to enter the 2018 NFL Draft. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Edmunds was projected to be a first-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts and was ranked as the top outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and ESPN analyst Jeff Legwold. He was also ranked as the second-best stack linebacker by Sports Illustrated and the second-best linebacker in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock. Edmunds was selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. On May 12, 2018, the Buffalo Bills signed Edmunds to a four-year contract and was named the starting middle linebacker to begin the season. He made his professional regular-season debut and his first career start in the Buffalo Bills season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens where he recorded seven combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first career sack. In Week 14, Edmunds recorded his first NFL interception against the New York Jets becoming the youngest NFL player ever to record an interception. Edmunds was named the NFL defensive rookie of the month in December after recording 43 tackles, 4 passes defended, 1 sack and 2 interceptions. He finished his rookie season with 121 total tackles on the year with two sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

In 2019, Edmunds was named a team captain at the beginning of the year. He notched his first sack of the season in week 10 against the Cleveland Browns, taking down quarterback Baker Mayfield in the endzone for a Bills safety. In week 11 against the Miami Dolphins, Edmunds recorded a team high 12 tackles and made a half sack on Ryan Fitzpatrick in the 37–20 win. In week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens, Edmunds recorded 8 tackles and his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Lamar Jackson during the 24–17 loss. In the AFC Wild Card game against the Houston Texans, Edmunds recorded a team high 12 tackles, sacked quarterback Deshaun Watson once, and recovered a fumble forced by Tre'Davious White on Deandre Hopkins during the 22–19 overtime loss. Edmunds started every game in his sophomore season, recording 1 interception, 1 1/2 sacks, and 115 tackles. Edmunds was named to the 2020 Pro Bowl, the first Pro Bowl of his career, in replacement of the injured Dont'a Hightower.

Tremaine Edmunds signed with the Chicago Bears on March 13, 2023.