HERO Sports is counting down the days until the kickoff of the 2018 college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, by featuring the best player in the FBS at each jersey number, from 99-1. Each day, from May 18 through Aug. 24, we'll publish one article showcasing the best player whose jersey number matches the number of days remaining.
[divider]RANKINGS: Top 100 Teams for 2018
TRIVIA: Daily FBS Trivia Question
MORE: Best FCS Player for Each Jersey Number[divider]
No. 79 David Edwards
Wisconsin – OT
I have zero evidence to back up this claim but I feel comfortable making it anyway: David Edwards is the only player in the recruiting era to earn FBS offers as a quarterback, tight end and offensive tackle.
Edwards was an option quarterback at Downers Grove (Ill.) North High School when then-Illinois head coach Tim Beckman offered him a scholarship as a quarterback. Wisconsin and others recruited him as tight end. Iowa went a different direction.
“They looked at his hands and shoulders and said: We think you’re a left tackle,” Edwards’ father, David, told the Chicago Tribune in February. “At the time, he was 225 pounds. I thought: Hmmmm … if Iowa wants you to play left tackle, that’s a pretty big compliment.”
Edwards, a self-proclaimed twig in high school, accepted the Badgers' offer and, after a redshirt season, was the No. 4 tight end on the depth chart during spring practice in 2016. He moved to tackle and started seven games that season.
Edwards arrived at Wisconsin as a 245-pound tight end. He's now a 315-pound offensive tackle who started all 14 games in 2017 and earned AFCA First-Team All-America and AP Third-Team All-America honors. And as we noted on this week's podcast, he is one four — four! — potential All-Americans on Wisconsin's offensive line this season.
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NEXT: Wisconsin's Quintez Cephus is the Best No. 87 in College Football
