Jason Edwards Scouting Report
Undersized guards must bring an elite skill to the NBA to have a chance to stick. In Edwards' case, there's plenty to like while fitting a clear role. Here are 3K+ words on why he belongs in the NBA:
Introduction
After a fantastic freshman year at Dodge City CC, the freshly crowned NJCAA All-American Edwards decided to be a one-and-done and make the big step to North Texas. After a 19 points-per-game sophomore season, he earned All-AAC First Team honors. Edwards’ creativity, rim pressure, and body control make him a high-end scorer on each level he has competed at his entire life.
This made him one of the higher-touted transfer portal guards. Shortly thereafter, he committed to Coach Byington and the Vanderbilt Commodores. His scoring outburst continued, as Edwards surpassed 1,000 scored points in his first two Division I seasons.
While it’s known NBA front offices don’t ask guards to only score, Edwards has shown flashes of elite traits that can put him on an NBA floor. These flashes are the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-1, Edwards is an undersized guard. That’s what scouts will immediately hold against him. Regardless, he has a decently strong frame with broad shoulders. At 175 pounds, there’s room to continue to add muscle in the next few years. The positive aspect of his profile is his great core strength and fluid hips. That helps him to maintain balance while using his footwork to find the right scoring angles.
Going through adversity is the best learning school for many. For Edwards, that has been the main area to prove his scoring prowess his entire life. That made him tough and one of the hardest-playing guards in the SEC. Despite his gritty style of play, Edwards plays within control at under two fouls per game in both Division I seasons.
Despite an average wingspan, Edwards’ quick hands and leaping ability compensate for a lot, as the physical development and improving screen navigation have a big role in why he can play on an NBA floor after college.
Offense
Catch-and-shoot
While shooting over 39% from above the break, Edwards’ consistent shot-making is the base for him to stay on an NBA floor. Scouts know they take a hit on their defensive rating with him on the floor, and thus, the efficiency and support for the offensive rating with consistent perimeter shooting is the base to earn more minutes throughout his career.
Edwards comes off a high-volume shooting season at North Texas, where he shot over 35% on more than seven attempts per game. That’s a good number, considering the higher amount of self-created shots compared to his 37.5% at Vanderbilt where’s been able to showcase his jumper off the catch more. These statistics are a result of a consistent shooting motion with decent footwork.
Edwards’ quick feet and natural elevation on his jumper help him to quickly get his shot off. He’s constantly moving and demanding the ball, as shown in the first play below. While quickly setting his feet, he focuses on putting his feet and the ball at 180 degrees of the basket. An area of concern is his low-arching point, which is a must in his shooting motion as it's built on a quick release rather than a high-arcing one. The other side of the coin is that it improves Edwards’ shooting gravity to attack closeouts after shot fakes.
For the NBA, translating the speed and pace of the game is the main challenge for a shooter’s habit. In Edwards’ case, his lower release makes him more vulnerable to getting his shot blocked. But on the other hand, he’s comfortable and effective, and, more importantly, fast in his release. The second possession below shows an example.
The path to be a volume-shooter in the NBA is the efficient movement away from the ball. It’s vital to be in the passer’s angle at all times, and that’s what Edwards has become much better at during his junior season so far. The third and fourth plays below show examples.
Hand-offs
While Edwards averages over five free-throw attempts per game, his decision-making after handoffs is a vital part of his evaluation. At times, he prefers perimeter shots off the dribble rather than attacking the basket and getting two feet inside the paint. For the NBA, the challenge is a team’s willingness to run plays for a scoring-minded guard to come off handoffs. On the other hand, in today’s five-out-styled game, handoffs and quick and creative guards are becoming essential weapons to collapse a team’s interior defense. That makes it feasible Edwards will be a handoff scorer at the next level.
It’s not easy to criticize a player’s instincts and willingness to score. But for Edwards, his style of play, with the first possession below as an example, will cause questions for NBA scouts. It’s vital to focus on attacking the basket with the right driving lane available. Edwards has the straight-line drive with a dropping five-man in front of him but chose for an off-the-dribble three from beyond NBA range. Despite his proven track record of converting these shots, that’s not the type of shooting performance that helps a team’s offensive rating in the long run.
In the second play below, Edwards shows tunnel vision after successfully winning time to utilize the ball screen with the shot fake and jab step. He’s getting two feet inside the paint, but an NBA scout wants to see him drop the ball off to the cutter in the middle rather than trying to convert the play against two defenders. Despite his body control and good touch, Edwards is a 55% rim finisher, with shot selection and tunnel vision being the main reason. The expression of disappointment is understandable, but it would have been a better decision to immediately stand up and get back on defense, considering the faster-paced NBA game.
The third possession below is another example of Edwards’ will to score getting the best of him. With less than six seconds on the clock, he had enough room to utilize the corner shooter left wide-open at 270 degrees from his stance. That’s the type of court vision NBA scouts seek when considering shooting-heavy guards. The fourth play shows flashes of what he can do on an NBA floor. He’s correctly reverse-pivoting before attacking the glass, nearly getting the and-one after absorbing the bump while maintaining his balance before the finish.
Catch-and-drive
For Edwards, his physical development and continuing to add strength is the essential part of his development between now and the end of his senior season. His solid handles, decent footwork, and good core strength and body control check all the boxes to succeed as an interior scorer in the NBA. However, at times, he’s struggling to make the right shot selection or to handle contact against physically more imposing opponents. With plays out of closeouts being a large chunk of his scoring opportunities in the NBA, that’s an area of focus for scouts to keep an eye on in the next sixteen months.
Another success factor is the consistency of his floater and runner game. The first play below shows Edwards’ vision with the interior presence using his length to close the angle, as Edwards gets quick off his feet with a high-arcing runner. Despite the miss, he follows it up and converts the second-chance opportunity. In the second possession below, his scorer’s creativity is on display. He attacks the closeout with the timely fake. Hereafter, he uses his craftiness to change gears and find himself a scoring angle from the mid-post. The contact puts him out of balance, making the shot miss. As mentioned above, that’s the main area of development.
The positive that makes improvement feasible is that he’s fearless when he’s attacking the basket. In the third play, he creates the driving lane on the weak side after a smooth fake catching his closeout defender in the air. Hereafter, he’s attacking the glass, looking like he’s trying to dunk it home. In sequences such as these, the foul-drawer in Edwards shows up. With his 85.3% free-throw shooting, that’s the effectiveness NBA scouts look for, as it makes it more feasible for good things to happen when he’s being put in a position to make plays out of closeouts like that.
Passing and playmaking
Edwards has averaged about 1.5 assists per game for two consecutive seasons now. A part of that is due to his main focus as a scorer and off-the-catch shooter. Regardless, the other side of the coin is Edwards’ tunnel vision where he misses opportunities to make the extra pass after his advantage creation. For NBA scouts, it’s vital to keep track of his development as a playmaker. The duty of a ball-mover is a must-have, but for Edwards, his additional playmaking for an NBA team will put more comfort in their defensive rating. But for that to happen, he has to make better decisions with more composure when he has the ball in his hands.
In the first two plays, Edwards focuses on the outside shooter’s motion, where it looks like he’s not comfortable to make higher-risk passes. He’s averaging 2.0 turnovers per game over his two years at the Division I level, which makes it a great number, considering his high amount of ball touches. However, the hesitancy to make high-risk reward passes takes away some value. Looking at his game throughout the years, it looks like Edwards gains more focus when being put in a tough situation. In the second play, the opponent hedges where the screener gets too physical, causing him to hit the deck. However, he trusts his instincts to immediately hit the elbow shooter’s pocket.
The third play shows the creativity, composure, and body control NBA scouts look for. He’s utilizing the handoff well before changing his pace and using an effective floater fake to catch his defender in the air. However, instead of hitting the play-finisher with the bounce pass, Edwards’ hesitancy comes into play, and he chooses the safer kick out to the above-the-break shooter instead. Despite the made three, it took all value away from Edwards not executing his well-prepared playmaking read. The fourth possession below also shows Edwards’ need to improve his strength level as he needed too much time to execute the wraparound pass after his team got the transition opportunity.
Regardless, development isn’t linear. Edwards shows a natural feel and creativity in the fifth play below. He doesn’t do it consistently, but that’s a process to focus on with his senior season ahead of him. After using the drag screen, Edwards fully lures in the defense by changing his pace before delivering a fancy no-look pass to the play-finisher underneath the basket. Those are the types of reads that he needs to execute more often, which will naturally improve his assist numbers per game, while also effectively improving his team’s offensive rating as he’s looking to make better decisions out of his easily-created advantages. The last play below shows another example. His dribble penetration has the opposing defense entirely on the backline. Hereafter, his overhead kickout pass was the right decision to make.
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Defense
Isolation
As an undersized guard, the key to not hurting a team’s defensive rating too much is to respond with isolation defense when teams decide to switch and take on his matchup. For Edwards, his quick feet, decent burst, and great change of pace help him to grow into a gritty and above-average point-of-attack defender. His lack of strength often forces him to play with much more physicality, thus making him more vulnerable to foul calls, as shown in the first play below. Position-wise, it was a good play from Edwards, who slid his feet well and kept his balance before taking on the bump from the scorer.
His main area of development is gambling on defense. In the second possession below, he’s reaching in to poke the ball away, but that led to his opponent simply blowing by him without the need of a ball screen. Edwards does well by not being responsive. However, he shouldn’t get lured into heading toward the perimeter line when it’s clear his assignment wants to generate a paint touch against him.
Despite giving away the floater angle in the third play, Edwards shows much more focus to get the stop in transition. He’s again caught gambling for the steal, which opened up the angle in the middle. Regardless, the toughness and grit to be a hard matchup is there. But Edwards often gets lured to reach in, as also shown in the crossover in the fourth possession below. Lessening biting on fakes is the main area of development for NBA scouts to keep track of.
Pick-and-roll
Edwards plays with much more focus and toughness when he’s playing as a pick-and-roll defender. He constantly has his feet ready to slide while showing decent awareness of incoming ball screens. In the first play below, Edwards does well to tag his opponent to create a cushion to take on the bump from the ball screen. Hereafter, he uses his tag smartly to poke the ball away from behind. As an undersized guard, Edwards has a target on his back as teams actively seek to put him into ball screens while trying to get downhill. The positive is Edwards knows he can rely on his lateral quickness, while his awareness to locate screens makes it easier to limit the separation allowed in these plays.
In the second possession below, Edwards shows his toughness after he’s positioned in the backline with the opposing five holding a mismatch against him. He’s throwing his chest into his switch, where he doesn’t get the charge called his way because he threw himself before the scorer used his arm to attack Edwards’ chest. In the third play, the need to get stronger is visible. He’s again showing good awareness for the incoming ball screen, using the tag to create a cushion and diving between both players. However, he kept up with his opponent, who pushed him underneath the basket, where the lack of upper-body strength led to a wide-open layup. For Edwards, using his excellent core strength while investing in his upper body is one of the main areas that decide whether he can stay on an NBA floor for longer stretches of minutes.
Another main area of development is Edwards not prioritizing his defensive boxouts. In the fourth and fifth plays below, the defense collapses, and the least he can do is to position himself properly and fight for a potential opponent’s miss. At over two rebounds per game in back-to-back seasons, his lack of boxing out puts more pressure on a team’s defensive rating, as teams will be willing to crash the glass and try to generate some second-chance points.
Hand-offs
Edwards shows much more confidence when he’s defending against handoffs. His lack of strength is appealing once opponents get inside the pain, but the screen navigation and awareness are promising flashes to continue to develop and invest in throughout his senior season. In all four plays below, Edwards does well until the opponent gets the angle to score. The focus here has been on allowing baskets to show a pattern of effort and good execution. However, the lack of strength is the deciding factor in allowing an advantage to his assignments.
In the first play below, Edwards plays physically but cannot afford to play too physically against dribble penetration to not allow the and-one. Regardless, the contested three in the second play is an acceptable shot to give up. Edwards did well to not overhelp against dribble penetration but got caught ball-watching, leading to the shooter’s one-dribble pull-up from the elbow after creating the angle.
Edwards did well to fight through the double stagger in the third play below. However, the lack of strength led him to get stuck in the ball screen, thus opening up the angle for the midrange pull-up. As of today, NBA scouts have legitimate concerns about their defensive rating with Edwards on the floor. However, the flashes of right decision-making, screen navigation, and toughness increase the odds of Edwards earning the benefit of the doubt after he continues to add strength to his frame.
Catch-and-shoot
As mentioned earlier, Edwards’ lack of boxing out on the defensive end carries pressure on a team’s defensive rating when guarding spot-up shooters. The level of toughness, quick feet, and hands in the shooter’s face aren’t the issue with Edwards. His JUCO years helped him to develop a better understanding of rotations on the defensive end. In the first play below, he’s a tad too late to put in the second switch while he’s covering a deserted weak side. Regardless, his reads were good, but it lacks the quickness in the second rotation to the corner to fully contest the shot.
In the second play, Edwards makes the unforgivable mistake of not getting back to his interior after his opponent lands a heavily-contested Hail Mary shot from far beyond the three-point line. His opponent unwrapped the gift of the high rebound, and Edwards’ body language made it seem that his teammates were at fault while he wasn’t boxing out properly. These small habits carry immense weight for an NBA scout’s decision-making. Therefore, Edwards has to put the chip on his shoulder and play tougher in these impactable sequences, such as defensive rebounds. That will naturally make him a higher-volume rebounder, thus helping both a team’s offensive and defensive rating as he limits second-chance opportunities while he can use his passing and quickness to be a double-threat in transition.
For his catch-and-shoot defense itself, Edwards is more comfortable and gritty when he’s positioned inside the lane. In the third possession below, he does well by offering help defense to the dribble penetration. Hereafter, he corrects his bad stance by fully launching himself to contest the shot. The main area of development on that end is to lessen the ball-watching and focus more on keeping his assignment at 180 degrees so he can fully use his body to contest shots while limiting an opponent’s shooting angle.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Jason Edwards to focus on the 2026 NBA Draft. His glaring need to get stronger to limit his impact on a team’s defensive rating is the main concern in his draft profile. However, the shot-making, creativity, handles, and scoring give him a role on an NBA floor.
The playmaking lessening tunnel vision and ball-watching can take away a few red flags in his profile. As one of the premier scorers at the Division I level, Edwards will be a highly-touted target in next year’s transfer portal, with his NIL value increasing. Regardless, NBA scouts should put him on their long-term watchlist, as he’s a lock to be selected for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament next summer while continuing to showcase his scoring prowess and improved focus and decision-making.