MVN - Most Valuable Network

Top NFL Draft Safeties: Build a Secondary Around Kenny Phillips

For background on MVN’s rankings, read this post explaining the 8-tier prospect system.

Kenny Phillips, Miami (Fl), 1st round grade, Good Prospect
Kenny Phillips is what he is. He’s a guy who looked like an elite prospect three years ago, got banged up, and had a disappointing junior season in 2007. He opted not to return for his senior year, and he enters the 2008 draft as the top rated safety prospect. In any other year, Phillips is probably not the top rated safety in the class, so I guess you could say that he made a good decision to turn pro, even though his game needs more seasoning. Not a defensive cornerstone, but he’s a player that you can build your secondary around, or he can be a guy that comes into an already made secondary, and fills a hole.

Tom Zbikowski, Notre Dame, 1st round grade, Good Prospect
The gap between Phillips and Zbikowski isn’t very much, in fact, they share a lot of the same weaknesses. Zbikowski still has a lot of room for growth in his cover abilities, and he ran 4.4 at Notre Dame’s pro day, improving on his 4.5 time at the combine. Zbikowski is the fastest safety who will go in the first three rounds in terms of straight line speed, but the concerns about his hip fluidity and coverage abilities are legit. He’s a guy who will probably enjoy more success as an NFL safety than he did in college, and is an ideal fit for the Colts when they pick in the 2nd round, if he’s still there.

Tyrell Johnson, Arkansas State, 2nd round grade, Good Prospect
As the tier system shows, Phillips, Zbikowski, and Tyrell Johnson are all in the same boat in terms of long term prospectus. Johnson is an enthusiastic defensive leader, and a guy you can build a secondary around, and some experts have him as the top ranked safety. His best value is in the second round, when he would be taken to start for a team with a questionable safety situation. Despite playing his college ball in the Sun Belt, he may have a shorter learning curve to the NFL than even Phillips.

DaJuan Morgan, North Carolina State, 2nd round grade, Solid Prospect
The prototype free safety, Morgan’s game is exclusively in pass coverage, and specifically, the deep zone. That’s going to cause him to fall into the late second round because a lot of teams already have players like Morgan, and there is no reason to add another. He doesn’t have the closing speed to get up and help in run support, but he can diagnose a deep pass and get over the top better than any player in this class, and that is an important skill in today’s pass-friendly NFL.

Reggie Smith, Oklahoma, 2nd round grade, Solid Prospect
With an unimpressive pro day showing, Smith drops to the 5th overall safety on this list. He’s in the mold of Pierson Prioleau, in that he can cover the slot receiver one on one in man coverage and take him away, and that’s a skill that not a whole lot of safeties possess. Because he has not proven that he can hold up as a corner at the pro level, Smith is relegated to be a mid-level safety prospect in these rankings. He could always prove us dead wrong, but if he does go on the first day, expect him to be one of the final picks of the day.

Josh Barrett, Arizona State, 3rd round grade, Mediocre Prospect
Benched at Arizona State, possibly because he wasn’t 100% healthy, Barrett is a project that comes with major flaws, but also all the experience a great prospect has. He’s a risky pick, and probably not worth it before the mid third round, but he is a good character guy, a potential locker room leader, and a good cover safety, and in the NFL, all of those things are in high demand, even if the prospect may be flawed.

Thomas DeCoud, California, 3rd round grade, Mediocre Prospect
DeCoud had an excellent year as Cal’s free safety this season. The problem was that it was his only season as a starter, and thus, limited film exists on DeCoud. Smart teams will not risk a high draft pick on a player with limited film, so some team will be forced to take a flier on DeCoud as a safety. As a special teams ace however, this guy is well worth a third round selection, as he did a phenomenal job covering both kicks and punts at Cal throughout his career.

Craig Steltz, LSU, 4th round grade, Fringe Prospect
Steltz’s future is probably on special teams and as a third safety that can be pressed into action due to injury. He is more than capable of diagnosing plays at NFL speed, and his 4.6 speed should be adequate enough to get the job done on a limited basis. In a full time roll, he’s probably not athletic enough to avoid being picked on in the deep passing game, something that happened to him every once in awhile at LSU. His career path will mirror that of college teammate Chevis Jackson, as both try to turn a special teams gig into a full time starting job in the NFL. Even odds right now on who will start more games in this league.

Marcus Griffin, Texas, 5th round grade, Fringe Prospect
He’s not exactly the player his brother, Michael (1st rounder in 2007 by Tennessee) is, but he does have an NFL future covering kicks, and as a 3rd or 4th safety. Safeties are great value by this time in the draft because they make great special teams players, and that can often be the difference between the Titans (10 wins, playoff birth) and the Texans (8 wins, left out) in today’s NFL game.

Jonathon Heffney, Tennessee, 5th round grade, Fringe Prospect
Heffney is a very small 190 pounds, but if you are looking for a total off-the-radar sleeper prospect at the safety position, he was a successful three year starter in college. His measureables are just barely enough to make it as an NFL starter, so we will see if a team that drafts him can turn him into a quality NFL safety. Stranger things have happened, and while Heffney is not even a lock to make an NFL roster, he does come off looking like a nice sleeper pick.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Tyrell Johnson, DaJuan Morgan, Marcus Griffin, Jonathon Heffney, Craig Steltz, Thomas DeCoud, Josh Barrett, Reggie Smith, Top Players By Position 2008, Tom Zbikowski, Kenny Phillips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.