All Badgers

Undrafted Wisconsin Badgers LB earns rightful place in 1st round of PFF 2019 NFL Draft do-over

Wisconsin Badgers linebacker T.J. Edward should have never gone undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Lorin Cox|
Aug 31, 2018; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers linebacker T.J. Edwards (53) during the game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Camp Randall Stadium.
Aug 31, 2018; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers linebacker T.J. Edwards (53) during the game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Camp Randall Stadium. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

In this story:

Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers linebacker T.J. Edward should have never gone undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft.

PFF is correcting that oversight by all 32 NFL teams in its re-draft of the 2019 class.

Their analysts have Edwards as a first-round pick with the benefit of hindsight, going No. 27 to the then-Oakland Raiders.

Their redo lands them one of the best undrafted players from the class. From 2021 to 2023, Edwards earned an 86.1 PFF overall grade and was one of the five most valuable linebackers in the NFL, according to PFF's WAR metric.
PFF

In the re-draft, he is only the second linebacker taken in the entire class. In reality, 36 linebackers were selected the year he went undrafted, including teammate Andrew Van Ginkel.

Van Ginkel also jumped into the first round of PFF's do-over, just sneaking in as the 32nd overall pick by the New England Patriots.

New England was desperate for edge help after losing Trey Flowers and Adrian Clayborn in free agency following their Super Bowl-winning campaign. One solution could have been Van Ginkel, who has turned into a fine player during his time in Miami and Minnesota. He has earned at least a 70.0 PFF overall grade in four of his six seasons while topping out at a 91.1 mark in 2023, which ranked seventh in the NFL that year.
PFF

Van Ginkel was originally a fifth-round pick by the Miami Dolphins. After posting 11.5 sacks last season with two pick-sixes, he's proven he should have gone a lot earlier too.

Wisconsin continues to look like a linebacker factory with NFL products like Zach Baun, Nick Herbig and Leo Chenal.

Maybe that will help the next great Badgers linebacker get drafted earlier and closer to where they belong.

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

Published
Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

Home/Football