Junior to Watch: Johnny Edwards
School: Fayetteville (Ga.) Starr’s Mill
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Position: Cornerback
Size and speed: Edwards is 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds. He is also already fully qualified with a 3.5 grade-point average and a score of 1010 on the SAT.
Statistics: Edwards got into quite a bit of action from his defensive back spot, recording around 30 solo tackles and 30 assists this past season. He also intercepted six passes. He also helped Starr’s Mill reach the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
Favorite Schools: Edwards lists Virginia, Florida State, Stanford, Miami, Georgia and Florida as his top six teams at this point. He is getting regular mail from Virginia, Maryland, LSU, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Memphis, Stanford, Vanderbilt and several Ivy League schools because of his strong academics.
Skinny: Starr’s Mill in Fayetteville, Ga., has become a force to reckon with in the state of Georgia. A big reason why is because of players like Johnny Edwards.
It just always seems that players from Starr’s Mills players are well-rounded both on and off the field – and that makes them attractive to college coaches throughout the country and Edwards (No. 5 in the picture) fits the bill again.
A sticky cover corner that intercepted six passes last season and helped the Panthers to the second round of the state playoffs, Edwards said he is best when it’s man-to-man situations.
“I love the man-to-man press coverage,” Edwards said. “I play a speed game, but I am also a student of the game that plays aggressive but smart.”
It’s that type of play that earned him True Believers Prep Sports all-state first-team honors, second team all-region recognition and also landed him as the outstanding defensive back pick for his team. It’s also earning him attention from the college coaches.
Even though he doesn’t have any offers at this point, Edwards is hoping to continue to work hard and get those offers. He is already set to camp at Virginia and is thinking about other schools at this point.
Edwards lists Oakland Raider star Charles Woodson as his sports hero, and hopefully with a good senior season he’ll get a chance to follow in his footsteps to a major D-I program and someday into the NFL.
But Edwards still keeps things in perspective.
“I had a decent results this past season,” he said. “But I'm looking forward to leading my team to a state championship and having a bust-out senior year on both sides of the ball.”