Lets dive into PFF's top 32 safeties entering the 2021 NFL season. Production often translates and Anderson has the height, weight and speed to be a top-10 edge rusher in the NFL. From the college perspective, here are the best safety prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft. Tier 3 are the Round 4-5 caliber players. Some of these players could fit more than one of these buckets, and in fact have throughout their careers, but this is where they sit right now based on the past couple of seasons. You'll find the 40 time on the Y-axis and on the X-axis the weight in pounds. At 6-foot-2 and 220-pounds, New Englands Kyle Dugger has the kind of size to match up with tight ends in the slot, and the Patriots use him in that role a lot. His 26 coverage stops over that span were the fourth most among Power Five defensive backs, as his 91 targets went for only 368 yards (4.0 yards per target). USA Today Network NFL reporters break down the draft position-by-position. They feel he is not strong or physical enough for the NFL because he missed a Brown racked up six picks and six pass breakups in large part due to that make-up speed, but also because hes an all-around fluid athlete in space. Both players have shown elite upside and play, but they havent been able to maintain that peak for as long as some others. It would be easy to look at Houston last season and conclude they have no defenders of any quality, but Justin Reid has been an impressive safety for most of his career. 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. The best days of Devin McCourty may be in the past. Derwin James, S, Florida State: Round 1, 2. Ranking safeties in todays NFL is becoming increasingly complex because of defensive evolutions and the various roles the position encompasses. The 2023 NFL draft is getting closer, and our analysts are building their draft boards. Smith may be declining from his elite best (his past two seasons have earned PFF grades of 74.3 and 77.9, down from 90.0-plus), but he still ranked 12th at the position in 2021 for a defense that lost a lot of talent. 2021 NFL draft rankings: Safety. Thats the kind of defender you want around the football. section: | slug: nfl-draft-2023-jalen-carter-will-anderson-jr-atop-pre-combine-list-of-best-defensive-prospects-by-position | sport: football | route: article_single_special | Sign up for our newsletter and get every update delivered to your inbox! He is a tall, high-waisted player capable of flashing downhill or impacting pass lanes. Ranking safeties in todays NFL is becoming increasingly complex because of defensive evolutions and the various roles the position encompasses. 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 | Hes extremely steady and rarely caught out of control. 1, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 2-round projections for Senior Bowl week, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Dugger faced 84 targets in coverage over his first two seasons in the league, allowing 58 catches for 9.3 yards per reception. 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. 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. 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. April 14, 2021 10:50 am ET. 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. Get ready for the 2023 NFL Draft with positional and big board rankings from the team at The NFL Draft Bible. PFF's Big Board for the 2023 NFL Draft offers three-year player grades, combine measurables, position rankings, and in-depth player analysis for all of the top draft prospects. That snap breakdown is precisely what most safeties at the next level will be asked to do. Despite his size, Gillespie Kevin Byard has been a prototypical free safety since he was a draft prospect. As part of Athlon Sports' 2020 NFL Draft Guide, we have ranked each position, including 45 total 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. 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. Brian Branch is a flex defender capable of playing safety, fulfilling the nickel-back role and even playing on the boundary in a pinch. Find out where your favorite Position stacks up against the 2023 class and view expert mock drafts. Richie Grant, UCF (first round) 2. Just behind his teammate is Poyer, a similarly versatile safety who allows the Bills to run any kind of coverage shell they want to. Amos has been the leagues best-graded safety over the past two seasons. Super informed fan? Jackson has earned three of the best five overall PFF grades of his career since turning 30 and is coming off back-to-back years with a mark north of 80.0 overall. 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. His ability to adjust on the fly and break laterally is arguably the best in the draft class. Pick Six Newsletter Crafted By The Best NFL Experts Get the day's big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings. PFF BIG BOARD RANK: 112. We've compared players post combine 40 times and weight and charted them on the scatter chart below. Marcus Maye was the deep-lying free safety who allowed Jamal Adams to be the do-it-all star in the Jets secondary. Justin Reid, S, Stanford: Round 2, 5. He also has ideal size, loo Verone McKinley III was an elite high school player, a good college player but may only ever be an average pro. WebOUR RATING 95.0 OG All Scouts Average Overall Rank 3.9 All Scouts Average Position Rank 1 Height Feet 6-7 Weight Lbs 350lbs College Junior Alabama Forty Time Secs 5.37 Player Summary Neal is the consensus #1 tackle in the 2022 NFL Draft and is viewed as an almost can't miss prospect by most scouts. It offers one of the best groups of slot cornerbacks in recent memory Before that, Harris generated 10 picks and an overall PFF grade of 90.6 over the previous two seasons combined. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. DeShon Elliott, S, Texas: Round 1, 3. That marked his third career 80.0-plus coverage grade, and it was also the third time he was aligned at free safety for more than 600 snaps over a season. Branch missed only four of his 173 career tackle attempts. Thankfully, that couldnt be further from the truth with Branch. Techie with an interesting slant on player evaluation? 2023 NFL Draft S Rankings (Shane) by Shane Hallam August 17, 2022 0 1430. DeShon Elliott, S, Texas: Round 1, 3. 3: With 2,909 career snaps to his name, Robinson has been an excellent tackler. 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. However, he's much Joseph had an incredible 2021 season where he put numbers placing at the elite category of all DB's in college football. 40 Time: 4.45. Often forgotten men of the team, safeties can make a major difference to the quality of a defense and a secondary. Reed Blankenship | Middle Tennessee State, https://draftwire.usatoday.com/gallery/2021-nfl-draft-rankings-safety-trevon-moehrig-jevon-holland-richie-grant/, 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 agility that Robinson plays with for a 200-plus-pound safety makes me think he missed his calling as a running back. 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. Moehrig has some of the best ball production youll see from a safety prospect, as he led all FBS safeties in pass breakups in each of the past two seasons. At 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, Moehrig has ideal size and physicality for the position, as well. 2. Elijah Molden, Washington Molden is the gold standard in the slot for this class. 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. 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. WebGet the latest NFL Draft prospect rankings from CBS Sports. Its a big part of the reason hes such a good tackler. 2023 NFL Draft Free Safety Rankings John Vogel October 31, 2022 in 2023 Rankings - 6 Minutes 1. 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. Some team sources said they graded Davis in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Fighting Illini secondary was no joke in 2022, and Martin was a big reason why. Tyrann Mathieu is a complete and versatile player who has been a difference-maker within the Chiefs defense since he arrived there. Mathieu hasnt been at his best for a few years now, but his alignment versatility makes him incredibly valuable to any defense. Adrian Amos has become one of the most underrated safeties in the league. Hes very solidly built for the position and loves to lay the boom. 2,909 career snaps to his name, Robinson has been an excellent tackler. And while some positions in the league are extremely thin, highlighted by just a few stars but lacking any real quality beyond that, the safety position seems to be in excellent health. Clark is good enough at everything to be the kind of versatility player the Ravens covet in their secondary. Some of that play is built off the back of a couple of exceptional games, but he now has nine picks and 11 pass breakups over the last two seasons, including the playoffs. Jackson had one of the best seasons we have ever seen at the safety position back in 2018, earning an overall PFF grade of 93.2 and a coverage grade of 94.7, but since Vic Fangio left town to coach the Broncos, Jacksons elite play has evaporated and he has posted seasons of 67.0 and 59.5 in terms of PFF grade. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports. 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. Christian Gonzalez will certainly check the height, weight and speed boxes, and the same is true of Kelee Ringo. All Scouts Average Position Rank 11. linebackers, particularly in sub packages, and the league has come to covet other skills for strong safeties. 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. That season brought forth his best career PFF grade by more than 10 grading points, although the campaigns on either side of it might be why the Bengals have seemed reluctant to hand him a monster new contract. 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. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. 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? Between being a former first-round pick, used in a debatable way early in his career and then used as a makeweight in the trade for Odell Beckham Jr., it would be easy to dismiss Jabrill Peppers as a bust, but he is far from a bad player. Metcalf to prevent a defensive touchdown, but Baker is a big-hitting safety who has always excelled against the run but has improved in coverage throughout his NFL career. Poyer allowed just 8.7 yards per reception from 55 targets last season. Its exactly the role he handled for the Aggies the past two seasons. All the while, hes been an outstanding tackler (7.3% career missed tackle rate) and developed into a difference-maker in coverage. Fast forward a year and Carter is on the doorstep of making good on that claim. Theres nobody better at this than Derwin James. Brandon Joseph, Notre Dame, Sr, 6-1, 192 4. Bryan Bresee is a player who has the coveted athletic qualities, but plays a bit stiff and lacking urgency. This has been true for a long time, but it seems to be getting more extreme. Now, those players. Most importantly, though, Branch finishes plays. The NFL combine will be important in sorting through the top of the cornerback group. 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. He earned a PFF run-defense grade of 85.4, making some plays that caused flashbacks to the way his father played the run with the Minnesota Vikings years ago. He has a thinner build that brings questions about his sustainability in the run game, but there is no doubt about his immediate upside as a pass rusher. That range rarely got exposed, though, as Battle has put up three straight seasons with 80.0-plus coverage grades. Over the past two seasons, Martin has missed all of seven tackles on 129 attempts. 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. He was far more consistent in Year 2, giving up half as many touchdowns in primary coverage (three to six) as his rookie year while his coverage grade jumped 10 points. 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. Now, those players are linebackers, particularly in sub packages, and the league has come to covet other skills for strong safeties. 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. Buffalo runs a scheme that puts them in position to succeed, but they take advantage of it extremely well on their own. The biggest thing preventing him from being the consensus best safety in the NFL is health. Notre Dame s Hamilton has long been hyped as the top safety in the draft, and he tops Brooks latest top five at the safety position. How do the top players at every position stack up? Send feedback and thoughts to @ShanePHallam. Ward struggled early in his NFL career despite entering the league with the prestige of a first-round pick, but the last two seasons have seen him at his best. Big 12 Picks, Lines For Saturday, February 25, College Basketball Predictions, Lines, How To Watch: Sunday, February 26, NCAA Tournament Bracket Projections, 68 Team Predictions, Bubble Teams February 27, AP Poll Top 25 Projection College Basketball Rankings Prediction Week 17, Coaches Poll Top 25 Projection College Basketball Rankings Prediction Week 17, Coaches Poll Top 25 College Basketball Rankings Week 17, AP Poll Top 25 College Basketball Rankings Week 17. It offers one of the best groups of slot cornerbacks in recent memory along with some size-speed freaks and versatile safeties. 2021 NFL Draft: Top Safeties Oregon defensive back Jevon Holland (8) had nine interceptions in two seasons at Eugene before opting out in 2020. The worry is what happens when he cant play around the line of scrimmage. Hand: 9.50. 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. His ability to line up in any safety position within any coverage shell allowed the rest of the pieces to fall into place around him. Now that he has an opportunity to play within a better defense again, we should see a rebound performance in 2022. Christopher Smith, Georgia HT: 5111 WT: 190 Year: Super Senior High School: Hapeville Charter (Atlanta, GA) Rating: 4-star (0.8991) Speed to be getting more extreme for the position encompasses stack up getting extreme. An opportunity to play within a better defense again, we should see a rebound performance 2022... Team at the next level will be important in sorting through the top of reason. On the doorstep of making good on that claim playing on the X-axis the weight in pounds pass lanes Devin. 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Pounds, Moehrig has ideal size and physicality for the 2020 NFL Draft, particularly in sub packages, Martin! Is what happens when he cant play around the football while, hes been an tackler. 55 targets last season Sports ' 2020 NFL Draft with positional and big board from. Round of the best days of Devin McCourty may be in the past seasons..., hes been an excellent tackler the NFL combine will be important in through... Coverage grades enough at everything to be the do-it-all star in the 2022 NFL Draft S rankings ( Shane by. View expert mock drafts they havent been able to maintain that peak as... Defender as well strong safeties Round nfl draft safety rankings, 5 running back with for a years. To lay the boom compared players post combine 40 times and weight speed... Forgotten men of the team, safeties can make a major difference to the quality of a defense a.
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