In a game that barely gave him time to catch his breath, Jaylen Edwards made his presence felt immediately for Glenville.
On the first play from scrimmage Friday night at Collinwood Athletic Complex, Edwards turned a 50-yard catch into Glenville’s first touchdown in a 37-21 win over Clarkson Football North. Before long, he was back in the end zone again, this time on a 25-yard score later in the first quarter. By the end of the night, he had four catches for 83 yards.
That kind of burst is exactly why Edwards is drawing attention as a major recruit. Ohio State, Colorado and Pittsburgh have already offered him as a cornerback after he helped Glenville win an OHSAA Division IV state championship last season. But his work on offense is starting to make the picture even more interesting.
“I’ve been playing offense and defense since I’ve been young,” Edwards said after the win. “So I’ve really been just working in practice, getting the plays and they just get me the ball and tell me, ‘Do what I do.’”
Senior quarterback LaMarques Greenwood II made sure to get him involved early. Greenwood said the game plan was simple once Edwards got loose in space.
“We’ve got to give him the ball in space, let him do his thing,” Greenwood said. “He has really good (foot)ball knowledge and a high IQ.”
Edwards has been showing that kind of impact for a while. As a freshman, he scored Glenville’s only touchdown on a punt return in a 6-0 win at Upper Arlington to open the 2023 season.
Last year, he took on a bigger role on defense and finished with three interceptions, including one in the state championship, along with eight pass breakups and 37 tackles. He also scored two touchdowns, and that’s when the conversations about expanding his role started to build.
Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr. and his staff wanted more from him.
“It’s not just about playing one position,” Ginn said. “We’re still trying to get these kids to school. You have to do certain things to influence the universities to take a chance.”
Colorado was one of the first major programs to extend an offer, and Ohio State followed in March for the 5-foot-8, 169-pounder. Glennville defensive coordinator James Gordon said the staff trusts Edwards in plenty of different spots, not just at corner.
“He’s been in a lot of big moments over the last few years,” Gordon said, “and we trust him in a lot of different situations. He’s been a lockdown corner for us, but he also can slide inside and play nickel or safety and help in the run game, depending on what we need.”
That versatility comes with a workload. Ginn and Gordon both said Edwards is asked to handle offense, defense and special teams, and Edwards said he puts in extra work to keep up.
“I do extra gassers and stuff after practice,” he said. “It’s a lot, but I’m good enough to take it on.”
The defensive side of the ball has needed his steady hand, too. Glenville graduated several All-Ohio standouts and college prospects from last season, including two-time cleveland.com Defensive Player of the Year Cincere Johnson, now a linebacker at Ohio State, plus three-year starting safeties C.J. Newell, now at Bowling Green, and Aaron Scales, now at Slippery Rock.
That opened the door for Edwards to grow into a louder, more visible leader.
“The biggest growth I’ve seen from him is how much more vocal he’s become,” Gordon said. “He’s communicating more, helping the younger guys and really starting to lead with his experience.”
Edwards and safety Jaquan Gibson form a junior pairing Gordon says has a lot in common with the departed Newell and Scales. Gibson, who has offers from Cincinnati and Indiana, has been with Edwards since elementary school through the Ginn Elite program.
Together, they’ve been learning from the players who came before them - and passing that along to the next wave.
“We just looked up to our older guys,” Edwards said. “We knew they needed us and we needed them.
We’ve been playing since we were younger. We always knew when we stepped on the field, we were one of the best.”
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