2027 Draft: Safety

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

2027 NFL Draft: Ranking early options at the safety position

The Eagles appear in better shape at safety than some suggest, but here are a handful of future prospects who'd be fine additions to the draft board.

theeagleswire.usatoday.com

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

Ty Benefield 2027 NFL Draft Early Scouting Report

Ty Benefield 2027 NFL Draft Early Scouting Report. What does the tape show for the new LSU safety?

lastwordonsports.com

Pretty fair assessment, IMO. Definitely needs to clean up his tackling.

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

Some thoughts, looking at the current Consensus Big Board pre-season safety ratings:

17. KJ Bolden, Georgia
18. Bruntae Johnson, Notre Dame
50. Koi Perich, Oregon
85. Jaylen McClain, Ohio St.
87. Jelani McDonald, Texas
88. Zach Lutmer, Iowa
89. Xavier Scott, Illinois
90. Marcus Neal, Penn St.
92. Bray Hubbard, Alabama
122. Jackson Bennee, Utah
124. Ty Benefield, LSU
127. Dashawn Spears, LSU
146. Tao Johnson, UCLA
151. Zachariah Poyser, Miami
162. Keon Sabb, Alabama
267. Xavier Lucas, Miami
280. Terry Moore, Ohio St.
465. Faletau Satuala, BYU
793. Amare Ferrell, Indiana
999. Rod Moore, Michigan

My Thoughts:

KJ Bolden, Tae Johnson and Jelani McDonald are the clear top 3 for me, all top 40 talents, comparable to last year's Caleb Downs (12), Dillon Thieneman (25) and Treydan Stukes (38). McDonald is way under-rated at 87, and would be a steal day 2 if he falls in that range, but I expect him to do a Stukes-like rise.

Koi Perich, Zach Lutmer, and Jaylen McClain and Xavier Scott are intriguing. Perich is a little over-rated for me right now but has potential. Lutmer is a bit of a poor man's Cooper DeJean. McClain reported has 4.35 speed and great range.

Ty Benefield, Jackson Bennee, Dashawn Spears and Tao Johnson are all potential risers. Amare Ferrell and Rod Moore are way under the radar, and have top-100 talent. I have Xavier Lucas as a corner, but he's another dark horse worth watching.

I would love to see the Pats grab a rangy safety in rounds 3-5 to pair with Craig Woodson. Safeties are undervalued, and some will slip through the cracks. Jelani McDonald is my binky, though I think he will go high, but there are lots of intriguing guys.

 

[mayoclinic]

More of a box safety than what I think the Pats want.

 

[mayoclinic]

More on Jaylen McClain:

Why Is Jaylen McClain Flying Under The Radar?

Despite logging over 1,000 snaps for the Buckeyes over the last two seasons, Jaylen McClain is flying under the radar inexplicably.

lastwordonsports.com

 

[mayoclinic]

Why NFL teams want super-safeties with Nick Emmanwori’s versatility

Caleb Downs, Dillon Thieneman, and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren are the NFL’s three new do-it-all safeties. Here’s why they’re so important to the league right now.

www.sbnation.com

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[manxman2601]

He'll be an interesting watch because with those grades and that size, he sure sounds like a potential "super-safety".

 

[mayoclinic]

I was thinking those exact thoughts yesterday as I posted that.

 

[mayoclinic]

So, imagine a 2028-ish 4-2-5 base defense that looked something like this:

- IDL: Milt Williams and Christian Barmore
- EDGE: Gabe Jacas and Jordan Ross/Yhonzae Pierre/Clev Lubin
- LB: Sammy Brown/Ray Coney and Chris Cole
- S: Craig Woodson and Jaylen McClain (reported 4.35 speed)
- Star (Super-Safety): Marcus Spears
- CB: Christian Gonzalez and Ashton Hampton/Demello Jones

Chris Cole and Marcus Spears would be moved all around, including on the line, and swapped around to create confusion.

Marcus Jones would be a dime, or would he used in smaller-quicker base packages in place of Spears.

Dre'Mont Jones would be used inside and out. The 2 Jones' would get roughly "starter" level snaps, making 13 "starters".

Cory Durden, Josh Farmer, Leonard Taylor, Elijah Ponder, Bradyn Swinson and perhaps Xavier Holmes would provide DL depth.

Zak Kuhr (or Shane Bowen, or Jim Schwartz, or Terrell Williams) could do a lot with that.

 

[Clonamery]

So, imagine a 2028-ish 4-2-5 base defense that looked something like this:

- IDL: Milt Williams and Christian Barmore
- EDGE: Gabe Jacas and Jordan Ross/Yhonzae Pierre/Clev Lubin
- LB: Sammy Brown/Ray Coney and Chris Cole
- S: Craig Woodson and Jaylen McClain (reported 4.35 speed)
- Star (Super-Safety): Marcus Spears
- CB: Christian Gonzalez and Ashton Hampton/Demello Jones

Chris Cole and Marcus Spears would be moved all around, including on the line, and swapped around to create confusion.

Marcus Jones would be a dime, or would he used in smaller-quicker base packages in place of Spears.

Dre'Mont Jones would be used inside and out.

Cory Durden, Josh Farmer, Leonard Taylor, Elijah Ponder, Bradyn Swinson and perhaps Xavier Holmes would provide DL depth.

Zak Kuhr (or Shane Bowen, or Jim Schwartz, or Terrell Williams) could do a lot with that.

Go on...

 

[mayoclinic]

If Karon Prunty develops into a solid #3 Outside CB, we would only be a couple of backup LBs and DBs from a complete defense in terms of depth and versatility:

DT: Williams, Barmore, Durden, Farmer, Taylor; Dre'Mont Jones would rotate inside as well.

EDGE: Jacas, Ross/Pierre/Lubin, Jones, Ponder, Swinson, [Holmes]; Chris Cole would rotate at EDGE as well

LB: Cole, Brown/Coney, Muma, Britt/Obiazor

S: Woodson, McClain, Spears, + 1-2

CB: Gonzalez, Hampton/D. Jones, M. Jones, Prunty, + 1-2

I see 13 "starters" and a solid 18-20 deep unit. There would be some fierce competition for the last 3-5 spots, and probably a lot of churning, which is good.