2026 Draft: Safety

[Clonamery]

I agree. That is what we need. A free safety that is a CB too. Perfect compliment.

Add a tall coverage LB and this is a different defense.

Like me?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I know you're not that high on Woodson but he had a few good plays yesterday. A couple of hard hits leading to PBUs and some excellent solo tackles in run support particularly in the 4th quarter. He's probably more of a strong safety, which you did say at the time, but I still think he's a long-term starter for us. Re-sign Hawkins and draft someone like Genesis Smith and that's a quality safety room. Hawkins has been playing much better the last few games.

Woodson is OK. Maybe he takes a Y2 jump. We need to play more Man D. Woodson is one of the Cover Man weaknesses, but he is not bad and the LBs are worse. Hawkins is better no doubt. Hawkins, Genesis and Woodson is OK by me. Genesis Smiths combine will be interesting.

Dugger is starting for the Steelers.

 

[Clonamery]

Woodson is OK. Maybe he takes a Y2 jump. We need to play more Man D. Woodson is one of the Cover Man weaknesses, but he is not bad and the LBs are worse. Hawkins is better no doubt. Hawkins, Genesis and Woodson is OK by me. Genesis Smiths combine will be interesting.

Dugger is starting for the Steelers.

Their D sucks.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Their D sucks.

Their O is worse. 41 year old Rogers will fade more too.

 

[manxman2601]

Woodson is OK. Maybe he takes a Y2 jump. We need to play more Man D. Woodson is one of the Cover Man weaknesses, but he is not bad and the LBs are worse. Hawkins is better no doubt. Hawkins, Genesis and Woodson is OK by me. Genesis Smiths combine will be interesting.

Dugger is starting for the Steelers.

The one thing this season has taught me is that you don't want to be starting rookies in game one unless they're first rounders like Will Campbell. Woodson struggled early although I think he's now finding his feet, Henderson and Williams too and Jared Wilson is patchy at best. This is why I'm an advocate for re-signing people like Hawkins, maybe Chaisson and Gibbins too. Keep the continuity while giving time for rookies to develop and get up to NFL speed.

I need to watch more of Smith, although having just this second looked at his missed tackles, I'm less sure. 14 missed tackles and a 20% missed tackle rate and two games where he missed 4 and 3 tackles in a game. That's less appealing.

 

[stelfans]

I looked at Smith but the first game I tried to see he missed a tackle in the first play and I turned it off.
I’d rather a guy like Wheatley or Taaffe, sure tacklers. Even if it means you lose some coverage skills.
Hubbard is nice too but his agressiveness can lead to bad tackles but I guess that’s coachable.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I need to watch more of Smith, although having just this second looked at his missed tackles, I'm less sure. 14 missed tackles and a 20% missed tackle rate and two games where he missed 4 and 3 tackles in a game. That's less appealing.

That is depressing. I love Smith's 180 degree spin going backwards to breakup a pass on the opposite side. Looks very much like a single high guy.

 

[mayoclinic]

The one thing this season has taught me is that you don't want to be starting rookies in game one unless they're first rounders like Will Campbell. Woodson struggled early although I think he's now finding his feet, Henderson and Williams too and Jared Wilson is patchy at best. This is why I'm an advocate for re-signing people like Hawkins, maybe Chaisson and Gibbins too. Keep the continuity while giving time for rookies to develop and get up to NFL speed.

This is one of the rare times I disagree with you, at least in part.

All players have to be developed, and will go through growing pains. Campbell is the exception, not the rule.

I'm not advocating starting a ton of rookies at once, nor for starting rookies who you don't think are ready. But you have to get them playing time at some point, and sitting them won't do it.

There's an old joke in medicine: "The only way you get good judgment is by experience, and the only way you get experience is by bad judgment."

There's some truth to it. Vrabel is getting Wilson, Woodson, Henderson and Williams valuable experience. and the Pats have not sacrificed winning. All 4 have shown signs of significant development. That's a great job by the coaching staff.

We need to keep bringing in in young talent and develop it. Again, I'm not saying throw the vets out and throw in newbies who aren't ready.

On OL, we need to probably replace 3 starters by 2027. Bradbury and Moses are both under contract through 2026, and are adequate. Don't rush them out the door, but starting bringing potential replacements on board next year. Get a young starter at RG, not a 30+ vet on his last rodeo.

At S, Hawkins has shown improvement, I would keep him. Woodson is improving. At least 1 S is needed who will at least supersede Haekins as a starter by 2027.

Don't rush the rookies, but don't be afraid to play them, and assume some growing pains. Try to do it in a way that won't cost you games. You have to pay the piper at some point.

 

[mayoclinic]

Weird article:

This ASU Safety’s Case for Entering the NFL Draft

It has been tough injury news for Arizona State Sun Devils fans as of late. Quarterback Sam Leavitt was announced a couple of weeks ago that he was out for the

www.si.com

According to the author, (1) safety is a highly prized position, and (2) this is not a deep safety class.

 

[bakes781]

That's my way too early binky!

 

[mayoclinic]

Miami senior nickel/S DB Keionte Scott will likely miss the remainder of the season:

Miami's Jim Thorpe Semifinalist Expected Out For the Rest of the Season

Terrible morning news for No. 15 Miami (8-2, 4-2) as they are expected to be without Jim Thorpe Semifinalist Keionte Scott for the rest of the season. The Hurr

www.si.com

Very sad for Scott. Very excited about the chance that this could allow him to slip under the radar and slide to a certain team with a ton of Day 3 picks.

 

[Clonamery]

Miami senior nickel/S DB Keionte Scott will likely miss the remainder of the season:

Miami's Jim Thorpe Semifinalist Expected Out For the Rest of the Season

Terrible morning news for No. 15 Miami (8-2, 4-2) as they are expected to be without Jim Thorpe Semifinalist Keionte Scott for the rest of the season. The Hurr

www.si.com

Very sad for Scott. Very excited about the chance that this could allow him to slip under the radar and slide to a certain team with a ton of Day 3 picks.

Tough for him. Lew hasn't dropped very far down the list after his injury. Will be interesting yo see where he actually goes.

 

[manxman2601]

On the Daft For Draft podcast, James Foster said that Amare Ferrell had missed 10-12 tackles in the last 3-4 weeks. Checking in on PFF, he's close but not quite right. It's actually eight in five weeks. Still not great and he now has a season missed tackle rate of 22.5%.

 

[patman52]

like him a lot

 

[manxman2601]

like him a lot

I'm yet to watch him but looking at his stats, he plays almost exclusively in the slot or strong safety with hardly any snaps at FS. That's for both the last two years. I'm not saying there isn't a need for a big nickel but it would be lower on my needs list over a more versatile safety.

 

[BobDigital]

Dillon Thieneman

I don't know if this is the style Vrabel is looking for in his other safety besides Woodson or not. I don't know how much i can add that is new the the conversation. But here is one thought. Everything. I mean everything about his game screams 'reaction'. He doesn't seem like the type to attack. He is a counter puncher through and through.

His range playing single high is very good. But too often I think he reads the play after the ball was in the air. While i heard he was pretty instinctual, I didn't see it on film. Furthermore he doesn't always take good angles. He sometimes ends up a yard left or right of where he wants to be. Football is chaotic of course and this will happen. But if your bread and butter is playing center field you want to be more exact with your reads. He can recover in college where guys are less quick, but in the NFL some of these will turn into broken tackles, or he won't have the time to slow down and readjust.

When he run blocks he too often waits for the runner and comes in from the side as opposed to trying to shoot a gap and make a play or meeting force with force. He isn't a big guy weight wise, but i do wish he would play a little bigger. I heard issues about his run D and nothing i saw made me think otherwise. Not to mention he often isn't where the play is going and needs his speed to recover. I saw him slow down/stand still a number of times as the play went away from him. I know he isn't the tallest guy and so may find himself unable to see, but this is where feel for the game comes into play. I know he is trying to not be wrong, but trying too hard to not be wrong can make you wrong too.

His coverage man to man is okay. But would i trust him on a TE? No. He has good hands and will make picks when they come to them and when balls hang, but he doesn't read the QB and make breaks on passes from what i saw. A lot of his interceptions just happened or where hangers/bad balls. Praise his hand eye reaction time for making those plays, but it was all too passive.

He is a fairly reliable tackler at his level which you would expect for a FS (played some inside the box too... though i can't see why they did that as i think he was less effective there) but i worry some of his tackles at the next level will be broken.

Overall he works best as a Free safety. If you have him inside the box much, you are making 2 spots weaker at the next level IMO. I question his ability to create himself and his breaks need to get faster and path more accurate. But his speed is for real and he is close more than not. But as the field get shorter he gets less valuable, on the most valuable downs. To me that is a problem. McCourty while a free safety felt just as useful inside the 20 and 10. I don't think Thieneman translates as well there in the NFL. And his speed while good I don't think is amazing.

This gives me serious concerns about him at the next level. While parts of his game are ready to go i worry he may have a ceiling that isn't all that high. So i am going to low ball here. Thieneman is a 4th round pick.

On a side note, while this is a safety class i kind of like, I'm finding a lot of holes in the games i saw and it reflects in their grades. He is the 3rd fairly highly touted safety I have given a 4th round grade to this year. But he's the one i am least excited about as i see him as a high floor low ceiling player. I'd rather take a swing on a Sabb or Ramsey and miss then pick a guy who i think they may be looking to upgrade on down the line anyway.

 

[manxman2601]

Dillon Thieneman

I don't know if this is the style Vrabel is looking for in his other safety besides Woodson or not. I don't know how much i can add that is new the the conversation. But here is one thought. Everything. I am mean everything about his game screams 'reaction'. He doesn't seem like the type attack. He is a counter puncher through and through.

His range playing single high is very good. But too often I think he read the play after the ball was in the air. While i heard he was pretty instinctual, I didn't see it on film. Furthermore he doesn't always take good angles. He sometimes ends up a yard left or right of where he wants to be. Football is chaotic of course and this will happen. But if your bread and butter is playing center field you want to be more exact with your reads. He can recover in college where guys are less quick, but in the NFL some of these will turn into broken tackles, or he won't have the time to slow down and readjust.

When he run blocks he too often waits for the runner and comes in from the side as opposed to trying to shoot a gap and make a play or meeting force with force. He isn't a big guy weight wise, but i do wish he would play a little bigger. I heard issues about his run D and nothing i saw made me think otherwise. Not to mention he often isn't where the play is going and needs his speed to recover. I saw him slow down/stand still a number of times as the play went away from him. I know he isn't the tallest guy and so may find himself unable to see, but this is where feel for the game comes into play. I know he is trying to not be wrong, but trying to hard to not be wrong can make you wrong too.

His coverage man to man is okay. But would i trust him on a TE? No. He has good hands and will make picks when they come to them and when balls hang, but he doesn't read the QB and make breaks on passes from what i saw. A lot of his interceptions just happened or where hangers/bad balls. Praise his hand eye reaction time for making those plays, but it was all too passive.

He is a fairly reliable tackler at his level which you would expect for a FS (played some inside the box too... though i can't see why they did that as i think he was less effective there) but i worry some of his tackles as the next level will be broken.

Overall he works best as a Free safety. If you have him inside the box much, you are making 2 spots weaker at the next level IMO. I question his ability to create himself and his breaks need to get faster and path more accurate. But his speed is for real and he is close more than not. But as the field get shorter he gets less valuable, on the most valuable downs. To me that is a problem. McCourty while a free safety felt just as useful inside the 20 and 10. I don't think Thieneman translates as well there in the NFL. And his speed while good I don't think is amazing.

This gives me serious concerns about him at the next level. While parts of his game are ready to go i worry he may have a ceiling that isn't all that high. So i am going to low ball here. Thieneman is a 4th round pick.

On a side note, while this is a safety class i kind of like, I'm finding a lot of holes in the games i saw and it reflects in their grades. He is the 3rd fairly highly touted safety I have given a 4th round grade to this year. But he's the one i am least excited about as i see him as a high floor low ceiling player. I'd rather take a swing on a Sabb or Ramsey and miss then pick a guy who i think they may be looking to upgrade on down the line anyway.

Thank you for this.

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[manxman2601]

So does that "thank you" suggest he's coming out?

 

[patsfaninpa]

This is for Manx and the Ioane fans. As Gronk once said; “Threw him out the club!”