Edwards has received interest from Columbia, Cornell, Richmond, Stetson and Yale
Watch Lake Braddock quarterback Kyle Edwards lead his team to victory over Robinson this past Friday. (Video by Josh Apple for Synthesis/Koubaroulis LLC / The Washington Post)
[product id=”5112“]
September 21, 2015, 1:05 p.m. — Like many high school senior athletes, Lake Braddock’s Kyle Edwards must balance finishing his prep career strong while eyeing a future at the next level. Thus far, Edwards has received interest from Columbia, Cornell and Yale from the Ivy League, as well as Richmond and Stetson, all members of the NCAA Division I FCS.
At this point in the process, Edwards has pinpointed Richmond as his top choice for both location and the academic fit. He hopes to stay relatively close to home and likes what the business school has to offer.
“The business program that they have,” Edwards said, “I’m really trying to focus on that type of degree, it’s what most of the football guys do. They have probably have one of the better business schools in the country.”
Proving his mind is beyond just the gridiron in terms of selecting the next phase of his career, he also discussed the importance of being close enough to Burke, Va. for his parents to commute to games. He considers himself very close with his family.
He understands that building chemistry with the players and coaches is important as well, but it will be hard for another school to overcome the Richmond Spiders in his mind due to the location benefits.
“Really, it’s just about comfortability with the coaching staff and just developing relationships with those guys,” Edwards said, “but I don’t want to be too far away from home, but not real close, so really Richmond is the perfect location.”
Josh Apple is a featured columnist and blogger at DMVSTREAM.COM.
You can reach josh by emailing him at [email protected].
Edwards, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound dual-threat prospect, is currently in the midst of a promising season with the Bruins. They are ranked No. 4 in the Washington Post’s All-Met poll, sitting at 3-0 with wins over Lee, Annandale and cross-town rival Robinson. They won each of their first two contests in shutouts, and were able to avenge last years’ loss to the Rams on the road this past Friday for the third victory.
Although Edwards says the college process is somewhat on pause at the moment so he can focus on his senior season with the Bruins, he does hope to return to the Richmond campus in the near future. Thus far he has been twice, once for a one-day camp and he was invited to junior day last spring.
“I definitely want to try to get there for a game,” Edwards said, “they don’t have a home game for a while so I haven’t worried too much about that, but definitely want to go see a weekend game soon.”
Edwards identified toughness and durability as his strongest attributes that he hopes to bring to a collegiate roster. After carrying the ball seven and eight times respectively in his first two games, his workload on the ground increased against the Rams to fit the game plan, and he took a lot of hits as a result. He prides himself on his ability to get hit, get back up, and return to the huddle.
“I just want to be a guy who brings toughness to an offense,” Edwards said, “because everybody in college can throw the ball and can run a little bit, so really it’s just about being consistent and staying on the field.”
Despite that toughness, he understands the importance of fine-tuning the mechanics of the quarterback position. Edwards says he has made significant strides in his mechanics already during his time with the Bruins, but has more work to do over the last few months of his prep journey.
“I’m just very fortunate to have a really good quarterbacks coach and a really good offensive coordinator who have a couple guys playing college football right now,” Edwards said.
That extra work on mechanics will be crucial for Edwards and the Bruins for the remainder of the season as they hope to win the first state championship in school history. Last season they went 9-1 in the regular season before falling in the playoffs to Westfield. Fairfax County is loaded with talented teams that will be tough outs come playoff time, including Lake Braddock, Westfield, South County and Centreville.
“To be honest, if I had a state championship, nothing else would be important to me,” Edwards said. “That’s the goal because that’s what we’ve been trying to work toward for a couple years now.”
The Bruins return to action this Friday on the road at West Potomac in a battle between unbeaten teams.
DMVSTREAM.com is a web site dedicated to broadcasting live sports in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. DMVSTREAM.com broadcasts pro, amateur, college, high school, AAU and youth games and tournaments to televisions, computers and mobile devices like iPads, iPhones and more. DMVSTREAM.com is a product of Synthesis Multimedia Productions/Koubaroulis LLC. — founded, owned and operated by longtime D.C. area sports personality B.J. Koubaroulis.