Terrell Edmunds a rare 1st-round pick named Steelers rookie of the year

For only the second time since 2010, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round pick ended up being named their most valuable rookie.

Terrell Edmunds on Wednesday was given the Joe Greene Great Performance Award, annually presented to the Steelers’ top rookie. The No. 28 overall pick in April’s draft, Edmunds went on to be a starter at strong safety and play more snaps (counting special teams) than any player on the team.

Edmunds, a 21-year-old from Virginia Tech, had 69 tackles (49 solo), fourth among Steelers. He also had four passes defended, an interception and a fumble recovery.

Edmunds’ 1,129 snaps played this season (918 on defense, second-most of any Steelers player) are the sixth-most of any player in the league.

Second-round picks JuJu Smith-Schuster and Sean Davis won the award the past two seasons. Bud Dupree (2015) is the lone first-round pick since Maurkice Pouncey in 2010 to be named Steelers rookie of the year until Edmunds.

Since first-round picks won it five consecutive years 2002-06, Edmunds is just the third first-round pick to win the Joe Greene Award.

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.