2026 Draft: Safety

[mayoclinic]

A plan:

- Sign FA RB and EDGE rusher
- Trade our 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks to move up for Arvell Reese
- Draft Zak Wheatley and Kage Casey in the 4th
- Draft Akheem Mesidor in the 5th
- Take a shot on Nyck Harbor in the 6th, why the hell not?

 

[manxman2601]

A plan:

- Sign FA RB and EDGE rusher
- Trade our 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks to move up for Arvell Reese
- Draft Zak Wheatley and Kage Casey in the 4th
- Draft Akheem Mesidor in the 5th
- Take a shot on Nyck Harbor in the 6th, why the hell not?

It's an, shall we say, interesting plan. I don't want a FA EDGE unless you're getting a top quality pass rusher which will cost. No more make dos please. Also, Wheatley probably goes before the 4th. I'd take Taaffe there though. I heartily approve of your 5th round pick.

I'd rather take Golday or Hill in the 2nd than give up valuable picks on Reese. I just don't think linebackers are 3 premier picks valuable.

 

[stelfans]

I dont think we are in a position to give away picks like that. We need as many bullets as we can. I think the aproach will be similar to last year's. A guy i could see being a sneaky good pick and have a jared wilson type path is jake slaughter.

 

[mayoclinic]

I'm not a trade up fan. The last player I advocated trading up for was Aaron Donald. I think Reese is that freakish.

But it wouldn't likely happen. I could live with:

- FA RB (Kenneth Walker or Breese Hall)
1. David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech
2. Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati
3. Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn St.
4a. Kage Casey or PJ Williams, RT
4b. Akheem Mesidor, EDGE, Miami
5. Best available IOL or TE
6. Nyck Harbor, WR, Moonshot U.

 

[mayoclinic]

Love the Kyle Hamilton comp, BTW. I can see it. Wheatley rangey, long, and versatile.

 

[manxman2601]

I'm not a trade up fan. The last player I advocated trading up for was Aaron Donald. I think Reese is that freakish.

But it wouldn't likely happen. I could live with:

- FA RB (Kenneth Walker or Breese Hall
1. David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech
2. Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati
3. Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn St.
4a. Kage Casey or PJ Williams, RT
4b. Akheem Mesidor, EDGE, Miami
5. Best available IOL or TE
6. Nyck Harbor, WR, Moonshot U.

Those first three were my picks in my latest mock draft. It’s interesting though. If Reese was to fall in range of just having to give up one pick, I’d pull the trigger. He’s an upgrade on Golday, offers enough pass rush to partly compensate for missing out on Bailey and still allows us to get a safety whether it be Wheatley, Thieneman or Taaffe.

 

[stelfans]

If we are picking 25 or later i think the best bet might be sonny styles or hill. Still early though, lets see in a couple of months how things stand, by then reese might be a consensus top 5

 

[manxman2601]

If we are picking 25 or later i think the best bet might be sonny styles or hill. Still early though, lets see in a couple of months how things stand, by then reese might be a consensus top 5

I'd be absolutely fine with Jamie Collins 2.0.

 

[Clonamery]

I'm not a trade up fan. The last player I advocated trading up for was Aaron Donald. I think Reese is that freakish.

But it wouldn't likely happen. I could live with:

- FA RB (Kenneth Walker or Breese Hall)
1. David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech
2. Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati
3. Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn St.
4a. Kage Casey or PJ Williams, RT
4b. Akheem Mesidor, EDGE, Miami
5. Best available IOL or TE
6. Nyck Harbor, WR, Moonshot U.

I think it is good to put it in writing because you never know if someone sees what you see.

 

[mayoclinic]

So, just hypothetically:

- FA RB: Walker or Hall
- 1+2 gets either Arvell Reese or David Bailey + Jake Golday (tough choice)
3. Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn St. Poor man's Caleb Downs/Kyle Hamilton.
4a. Kage Casey or PJ Williams, OT
4b. Akheem Mesidor, DE (damn you, Mel Kiper!)
5. Best available IOL or TE
6. Moonshot X WR

That would be a nice haul.

 

[mayoclinic]

Thanks to Mayo’s Kage Casey bombardment, I found this scouting report on Zakee Wheatley. TLDR 2nd round grade and Kyle Hamilton comp.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25250463-nfl-draft-2026-scouting-report-penn-state-s-zakee-wheatley

Here's their report on Dillon Thieneman:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25248478-nfl-draft-2026-scouting-report-oregon-s-dillon-thieneman

They give him a 1st round grade, call him a Daxton Hill who can tackle.

 

[mayoclinic]

Someone to look at?

 

[mayoclinic]

Could Jermaine Mathews be a potential Devin McCourty safety:

Redirect Notice

Mathews gets moved around a lot by OSU - outside CB, slot, FS. 4.38 speed, almost identical measurements to McCourty.

Just a thought.

 

[BobDigital]

So i did something i rarely do when looking at a player.. Before posting i read through this thread to get other opinions and info on here. I try not to let them influence my own, but after hearing all this hype on this kid and then seeing the tape, i just wanted to make sure I wasn't way off. This has to do with the massive hype train for Caleb Downs. Some call him the next Ed Reed or even best player in this draft overall. And I just... didn't see it. I mean, he absolutely pops on the highlight reel, but when you look at him over the course of a full game, you see the amount of gambling, misses, times he takes himself almost out of the play to make a shoe tackle and times he misses those shoe tackles.

To me personally... Downs is still figuring out his game and trying to find his limits. He sometimes takes not the best angle cause HE WANTS to make the play... even when other guys seem in position to do it. Even when this may take him out of position to make the play if his teammate misses. He doesn't pay for it often cause he is in college and usually can make the play and is on a stacked D which will cover for him if he misses and only manages to disrupts a hair... but some of these are finger tip thin plays.

Now, he can absolutely read a defense and anticipate, but it isn't smooth. He's not so much read and make the play as much as read and attack the play. He over pursued a beautiful read on Arch Manning for what could have been an easy pick 6. Instead he wiffs on the play going way too far, and thankfully did enough to mess up the pass (by his mere presence and not because i think he actually touched the ball), cause the defender was behind him and he was on the ground.

Now Caleb is a special player and you can imagine how good he will be if he learns to play within himself and clean this up... He'd be amazing.. but some guys don't learn that. As a Patriots example.... Asante Samuel was a gambler when he came into the league and stayed one his whole career... He got over 50 interceptions because of it... but he would have been better served to play more conservative and within himself at times. Will Down fall prey to the same situation? Is he addicted to the highlight reel play and even if he improves on them will he stay a gambler? Those guys can be very good players, but they are no Ed Reeds.

I personally will side on him figuring it mostly out and cooling down some... but i look at him and i think... being a gambler may just be too tempting for him. So he doesn't get to make my top 10. And i am even hesitant to put him in my top 16 grade to be honest. But for now I am keeping him there by a hair. If he has not shown any restraint by the end of the year I may have to knock him down again.

Caleb Downs - Top 16.

 

[manxman2601]

I've soured a bit on him as a single high but where I do think he is elite is in defending the flats - screens, outside runs etc. He's very good at reading the play. Having said that, he is having a down year according to PFF whereas his grades were elite last year. Maybe Patricia is using him differently.

One thing we do need to consider when looking at safeties is the increase in disguised coverages. Safeties need to be more diverse in their skill set and more intelligent. That's why I'm such a fan of Michael Taaffe who is very similar to Craig Woodson but that's exactly what's needed in today's NFL - interchangeability. a safety needs to have a diverse talent rather than simply being free or strong safeties. I do think Downs fits the disguised coverage zeitgeist.

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Love the Kyle Hamilton comp, BTW. I can see it. Wheatley rangey, long, and versatile.

Wasn't/isn't Hamilton quite slow?

 

[manxman2601]

Wasn't/isn't Hamilton quite slow?

4.59 but had a sub 7 3-cone at 6'4" which is good.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

4.59 but had a sub 7 3-cone at 6'4" which is good.

I have to believe that Wheatley will test much better. Wheatley looks like an NFL player to me with a couple of more pounds.

 

[manxman2601]

I have to believe that Wheatley will test much better. Wheatley looks like an NFL player to me with a couple of more pounds.

NFL Draft Buzz say 4.40 which would be outstanding for a safety.