It's remarkable the number of top-flight college receivers that came through Michigan. Anthony Carter, Derick Alexander, Desmond Howard, David Terrel, and Braylon Edwards. And you don't think of Michigan as the cradle of quarterbacks, but they've had Jim Harbaugh, Tom Brady, Drew Henson, John Navarre, and now Chad Henne chucking the football to some pretty good receivers.

I see a fair number of Michigan games on TV in Chicago and I've seen Edwards play in person in Champaign against Illinois. He's good...and I like him ahead of all of the others I listed above. He's tall, strong, has decent speed, runs a nice route, and adjusts very well to get better position when the ball is in the air. That skill alone, "selling" your route and getting position, might be as important as size and speed.

He does get knocked for dropping some catchable passes...but I didn't see it in the half dozen games where I saw him play. That might be because it was against weaker teams where the an incomplete pass was less critical. Also, I don't recall the offensive play calling that ever required Edwards to run a shallow pass route over the middle. But there is a heirarchy in college ball where some guys just aren't asked to make certain plays. And I'm not sure about his blocking ability...that's hard to judge unless you see film or games in person.

On the other hand, when HALF of your games are against secondaries like you see at Northwestern, MSU, Indiana, Penn State and Illinois, as well as one or two weak non-conference teams, it's no comparison to what you'll see for 16 weeks in the NFL.

Here's a test...as a Bears fan, would I give-up David Terrel in favor of an unproven Braylon Edwards? Not sure...but I'm leaning towards Edwards if that choice were available.

What's your impression of Edwards based on what you've seen?

tony b.