Thats the kind of defender you want around the football. His in-season tape is clear evidence, but you can also watch the practice/training camp footage that emerges every year of James going one on one with Keenan Allen one of the best route-runners in the game and covering him like a blanket. Hes extremely steady and rarely caught out of control. All the while, hes been an outstanding tackler (7.3% career missed tackle rate) and developed into a difference-maker in coverage. Last year, his coverage and run-defense grades came in at 74.0 or better. This has been true for a long time, but it seems to be getting more extreme. Chinn lined up all over the formation and was more of a matchup weapon than just a safety he played at least 20 snaps at free safety, in the box, covering the slot, lined up as a wide cornerback covering tight ends or backs and even stacked up at the line of scrimmage looking to threaten as part of the pressure package. ', Greek transport minister resigns over train crash; 36 dead. He has amassed 10 interceptions, 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one touchdown. He is coming off a season with a career-high 90.4 overall PFF grade and a 90.9 coverage grade. Tuli Tuipulotu was used as an edge rusher in Los Angeles, but projects to the inside. Tyrann Mathieu is such a matchup weapon that for several years of his career he was a pure slot cornerback more than he was a safety. I agree to receive the "Pick Six Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. Armani Watts, S, Texas A&M: Round Kevin Byard has been a prototypical free safety since he was a draft prospect. Before that, Harris generated 10 picks and an overall PFF grade of 90.6 over the previous two seasons combined. Brown may very well have the best movement skills of any safety in the draft class. As we look ahead to the next big mile marker in the predraft process, the NFL Scouting Combine, heres an updated look at how we rank the top safety prospects in this years draft: Sign up for the The Draft Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. Its the 2022 NFL Drafts most underappreciated group at maybe the most Athlon Sports. His 90.7 run-defense grade led all safeties in college football, while his 24 run stops ranked fifth most in the FBS. As part of Athlon Sports' 2020 NFL Draft Guide, we have ranked each position, including 45 total safeties. The biggest thing preventing him from being the consensus best safety in the NFL is health. Jamal Adams was thought to be this matchup weapon on defense, a player capable of lining up anywhere and doing his job well, But in Seattle, he has been struggling badly in any role other than one close to the line of scrimmage as more of a classic strong safety. Jackson is still just 26 and has too much talent to never find elite play again, but he needs to find a solution this offseason. By: CollegeFootballNews.com, College Basketball Predictions. The 2022 NFL Scouting Combine is in the books, and the pro day circuit is in full swing, which means its time to take an updated look at our prospect rankings for the 2022 NFL draft. SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO DOWNLOAD THE 2023 NFL DRAFT GUIDE FOR AS LOW AS Just behind his teammate is Poyer, a similarly versatile safety who allows the Bills to run any kind of coverage shell they want to. Jack Campbell has great size and production for the linebacker position. Justin Reid, S, Stanford: Round 2, 5. After ranking the best players at every position as a part of PFF's 2021 NFL season preview, we have finally come to safeties. Something of a journeyman at the position, Tashaun Gipson Sr. is with his fourth team in the NFL, but his first year in Chicago was one of the best of his career and saw him post grades of at least 69.9 in every facet of play PFF measures. Heres our updated list of this years top safety prospects: Sign up for the The Draft Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. He collected 16 stops in the run game this past fall and proved to have one of the more versatile skill sets in the draft class. Myles Murphy is a powerful edge rusher with the quick twitch qualities to develop, but he lacks a refined pass rush plan. While lacking splash plays, he is consistently in the right place at the right time and grades very well in all facets of the game. Mathieu hasnt been at his best for a few years now, but his alignment versatility makes him incredibly valuable to any defense. And then his relatively long wingspan for a safety affords him leeway as a tackler. The agility that Robinson plays with for a 200-plus-pound safety makes me think he missed his calling as a running back. S. All Scouts Average Overall Rank 42.9. 2018 NFL Draft Safety Rankings - DraftUtopia.com S Rankings 2017 NFL Safety Rankings Projected Rounds: 1. Marcus Williams signed a big free agent deal this offseason and has been incredibly consistent in the NFL at a position where consistently high-end play is hard to come by. Poyer allowed just 8.7 yards per reception from 55 targets last season. He possesses good size and physicality for the position with average range and physicality. Both players have shown elite upside and play, but they havent been able to maintain that peak for as long as some others. From a testing perspective, theres a chance he puts up the most lackluster numbers at the combine of any player on this list. His in-season tape is clear evidence, but you can also watch the practice/training camp footage that emerges every year of James going one on one with, Tyrann Mathieu is such a matchup weapon that for several years of his career he was a pure slot cornerback more than he was a safety. You'll now receive the top The Draft Wire stories each day directly in your inbox. Reed Blankenship | Middle Tennessee State, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 1st-round projections with trades, 2023 NFL mock draft: Pre-combine 3-round forecast with trades, comp picks, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 3-round projections with trades, comp picks, 2023 NFL mock draft: 3-round projections after Senior Bowl week, 2023 NFL mock draft: 2-round projections with big trades, and a new No. The fact that Martin also has 851 snaps at outside cornerback in his career most coming as a freshman and sophomore is icing on the cake for his pro projection. Kyzir White, S, West Virginia: Round 2, 6. As we look ahead to the next big mile marker in the predraft process, the NFL Scouting Combine, heres an updated look at how we rank the top safety prospects in this years draft: Chicago Mayor Lightfoot ousted; Vallas, Johnson in runoff, King asks Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move out of Frogmore so Prince Andrew can move in, Biden Mocks Marjorie Taylor Greene With 1 Simple Hand Gesture, A Nebraska high-school cheerleader competed on her own after the rest of her squad quit. He has lined up in the slot on more than 200 snaps in a season for the past seven years and should get the chance to replace Malcolm Jenkins in that matchup role within New Orleans' defense this year. Since entering the league, Jeremy Chinn may have had the most unique deployment of any safety, to the point that he breaks a lot of position designations and really is operating in a one-man role. Here are the top safety prospects. Heres how we stack this years safety class: 1. It offers one of the best groups of slot cornerbacks in recent memory along with some size-speed freaks and versatile safeties. That size does show up at points as a tackler, though. Your inbox approves See the data Golfweek's top news 's best, via The Florida State product posted an overall PFF grade of 87.8 as a rookie, but he has played just 299 total snaps in the two seasons since. Since moving to Pittsburgh and being allowed to play his natural position, Fitzpatrick has blossomed into one of the best safeties in the NFL. Another player coming off a down season, this was the first play we had seen from Harris dating back to college that had been anything but good. Hes reportedly reached over 22 mph on the GPS readings, and if you watch his tape from any point this past season, its very believable. The 2023 NFL draft is getting closer, and our analysts are building their draft boards. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: nfl | pageType: stories | If Porter tests to his potential in Indianapolis this week, he is going to go early. 1, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 2-round projections for Senior Bowl week, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Clark is a player the Baltimore Ravens love to deploy all over the formation and can use him in pretty much every way, including rushing the passer. Nolan Smith missed time with injury this year, but he is slippery around the corner. Adams has PFF coverage grades of 53.1 and 47.4 since joining the Seahawks but has maintained a strong run-defense grade while continuing to shine when rushing the passer. The results are (sometimes) interesting but what it really does show, is that on the whole - NFL teams would have done better by putting their feet up and just switching on autodraft. Take a look, we have every team's draft since 2011 rated. 40 Time: 4.45. April 14, 2021 10:50 am ET. Get ready for the 2023 NFL Draft with positional and PFF BIG BOARD RANK: 112. Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer each fit into this category for the Buffalo Bills and together may form the best safety duo in the league. The strong safeties of old continue to be replaced by hybrid matchup defenders, players who can line up in the box but also cover tight ends and running backs in single coverage from the slot or in other alignments as if they were cornerbacks. linebackers, particularly in sub packages, and the league has come to covet other skills for strong safeties. James Wiggins, Cincinnati (fourth round) 7. In a four-year career, he has played just over 2,000 snaps, which is essentially half of the available playing time. His ability to adjust on the fly and break laterally is arguably the best in the draft class. It would have been easy for Marcus Williams to allow his career to be haunted by the Minneapolis Miracle, when he showed up with the worst single play of his career at the biggest moment. Weight: 205. His man coverage skills are very good for a safety of his size, and hes a quality run defender as well. Cincinnati S James Wiggins is an under the radar G5 defensive prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft. Great read and closing speed here for the INT. pic.twitter.com/3Y9ouDvn4r Some believe Trevon Moehriq is the best safety in the nation. 2023 NFL Scouting Combine: See the prospects invited, by position, NBC Sports EDGE's 2023 NFL Draft Content Hub, 2023 NFL scouting combine: List of draft prospects, workout schedule, TV and streaming info. Reid was dragged down by the unit as a whole in 2020, and his coverage grade of 67.2 was the lowest of his career, but his previous two seasons had been flirting with an 80.0 grade, and he has increased the number of defensive stops he has made each season. From the college perspective, here are the best safety prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft. John Johnson III backed up his fine play in Los Angeles with a solid year in Cleveland. the ones that do often turn into quality starters in the NFL. But both before and after that play, Williams has been one of the best in the NFL. Bench: 16. But when the team traded Adams to Seattle, Maye was able to step into that role and show that he can also do a bit of everything well. WebGet the latest NFL Draft prospect rankings from CBS Sports. Trevon Moehrig, TCU (second round) 3. He still has a knack for making big plays at the most critical times, as he came down with a pick in both the AFC championship and the Super Bowl, two of seven he had in total last season. Kyle Hamilton can do it all -- he has the perfect size and agility for the position combined with nice coverage skills, hard tackling, and Jaquan Brisker is a great athlete with an elite combination of speed, size, tackling, and natural coverage ability to be a pro-bowl level sa Hill has played all over the secondary for the Wolverines, and this versatility is always in demand in the NFL especially when paired with Aspiring college or profootball journalist? Here are the 10 most physical safety prospects in this class. The 2023 Senior Bowl is officially in the books, and after another revelatory week of action in Mobile, its time to update our prospect rankings for each position group in the 2023 NFL draft class. Find out where your favorite Safeties stacks up against the 2023 class and view expert mock drafts. Gipson missed just seven tackles from 80 attempts in 2020. This most recent season saw him post career-low marks in overall grade (65.8) and coverage grade (61.5), which drags him outside of the top 10, such is the strength of competition. Theres nobody better at this than Derwin James. This past season, he allowed only 17 catches on 32 targets for 176 yards with four picks and three pass breakups. 2021 NFL Draft: Safety Rankings. Please check your email for a confirmation. The NFL combine will be important in sorting through the top of the cornerback group. It is difficult to find quality interior pass rushers so that makes a player with Carter's skill set even more valuable. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NCAA player performance data. Adams is a better player than he showed last season in Seattle, albeit likely not one good enough to justify the two first-round picks in the trade that took him there. Now he is a year removed from that injury, and a return to that PFF coverage grade of 78.0 or better this season would see Thornhill likely even climb higher on this list. Harrisons career wasnt stellar in Jacksonville, but the second he was traded to Cleveland, he began to look like a different player, and that was within a secondary that wasnt loaded with quality. By: CollegeFootballNews.com. How do the top players at every position stack up? WebSafety Rankings 2022 NFL Draft Home Positions S ALL QUARTERBACK RUNNING BACK WIDE RECEIVER TIGHT END OFFENSIVE LINE DEFENSIVE LINE EDGE LINEBACKER DEFENSIVE BACK #1 RANKED - SCOUTING REPORT 14 Kyle Hamilton POSITION RANK #1 OUR RATING 91.6 S All Scouts Average Overall Rank 4.8 All Scouts Average Position Rank 1 Height Feet Dugger faced 84 targets in coverage over his first two seasons in the league, allowing 58 catches for 9.3 yards per reception. Brian Branch is a flex defender capable of playing safety, fulfilling the nickel-back role and even playing on the boundary in a pinch. With the NFL Scouting Combine getting set to begin positional workouts, heres a look at the biggest combine snubs at each position in the 2023 NFL Draft Class. As part of our ranking of the position groups in the 2023 NFL Draft class, we have the safeties ranked No. Please check your email for a confirmation. Lets dive into PFF's top 32 safeties entering the 2021 NFL season. Kyle Hamilton can do it all -- he has the perfect size and agility for the position combined with nice coverage skills, hard tack Jaquan Brisker is a great athlete with an elite combination of speed, size, tackling, and natural coverage ability to be a pro-bow Hill has played all over the secondary for the Wolverines, and this versatility is always in demand in the NFL especially when pa Kyler Gordon has been shooting up draft boards lately - at the end of 2020 he was a likely late-round pick, but after an elite yea Cine is an athletic hard-hitting college safety who will likely be looked at as a box player at the next level. WebThe NFL Draft Bible Primer Series concludes with a look at the top safety prospects, as we get set to depart for the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, buckle up! Coverage is king in todays NFL, and the safety position is pivoting toward players who excel deep downfield. Harris hit free agency coming off a season in which he graded at just 63.6 in coverage, and it meant he could only manage a cheap, one-year contract with Philadelphia. No player has the production of Ji'Ayir Brown over the past two seasons. Still, at his age, it feels wise to err on the side of caution. The strong safeties of old continue to be replaced by hybrid matchup defenders, players who can line up in the box but also cover tight ends and running backs in single coverage from the slot or in other alignments as if they were cornerbacks. Johnson has earned overall PFF and coverage grades of at least 80.0 in every healthy season he has played in the NFL, and now he gets the opportunity to show he can stay at that incredible level with a new team after his offseason move to Cleveland. Tyrann Mathieu is a complete and versatile player who has been a difference-maker within the Chiefs defense since he arrived there. Which prospects should boost their draft stock at the NFL Scouting Combine? They feel he is not strong or physical enough for the NFL because he missed a Draft Wire editor Luke Easterling updates his safety rankings for the 2023 NFL draft following Senior Bowl week 2023 NFL draft: Post-Senior Bowl safety rankings Teams His biggest issue was with missed tackles, with 16 total on the year. There were similar concerns with Jaycee Horn coming out of South Carolina: handsy downfield in coverage and a high missed tackle rate. What was concerning about last season was how badly he was exposed in coverage within the Seahawks defense. 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