2027 Draft: Safety

[mayoclinic]

Rod Moore Paints Another Troubling Picture of Past Michigan Culture, Praises Jay Hill

With Rod Moore facing injuries the past two seasons, the two-time Michigan captain paints another poor picture of Sherrone Moore.

www.si.com

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

Zach Lutmer is a nickelback out of Iowa who I have heard some buzz about from people I trust, but I did not see it on film. He plays the Cooper DeJean role we saw when DeJean was a true sophomore at Iowa, working a lot in the slot with some versatility. I did not see a great caliber of athlete. When he was pressed in man coverage, his transitional quickness and explosiveness were lacking. When he had to turn and run, he labored. I also thought his run game instincts were hit or miss, with some bad angles on his film. He is getting top-100 buzz, but I did not see that caliber of player right now.

2027 NFL Draft Scouting Notebook: Clemson's early round WRs, another Iowa defender, and a massive linebacker riser

Several top 2027 NFL Draft prospects jumped off the film this week. Here are some more early names to know.

atozsports.com

 

[manxman2601]

Tao Johnson, UCLA (formerly Utah)
6-1, 200

Let's get the negative out of the way. He needs to sort out his tackling to be considered a Patriot possibility. He had a 21% missed tackle rate last year and a very average 59 run defense grade.

But look where he ranked on several coverage stats last season to see why I'm interested. These are end of season FBS rankings, not just conference rankings.

 

[mayoclinic]

Jaylen McClain really intriguing me, shows up on your 2nd list with a 0.21 coverage yards/snap. Reported 4.35 speed. Pair him with Craig Woodson and use Dashawn Spears as a star.

 

[manxman2601]

Jaylen McClain really intriguing me, shows up on your 2nd list with a 0.21 coverage yards/snap. Reported 4.35 speed. Pair him with Craig Woodson and use Dashawn Spears as a star.

My biggest concern with McClain is zero interceptions in his two years at Ohio State. I need to see him get his hands on the ball next year if he's going to play CF safety in the NFL. I don't deny that speed is intriguing though.

 

[manxman2601]

With his size, athleticism, good grades and coming from a big school, I'm surprised Jelani McDonald doesn't get more love/hype.

 

[mayoclinic]

Still on my binky list.

 

[manxman2601]

With his size, athleticism, good grades and coming from a big school, I'm surprised Jelani McDonald doesn't get more love/hype.

 

[manxman2601]

 

[Clonamery]

Can't wait to see him play.

 

[manxman2601]

Can't wait to see him play.

Agreed. He was getting pre-season hype last year and then missed the whole season. If Ohio State come calling, that's a pretty good sign.

 

[manxman2601]

Why i'm not sold on Ty Benefield or Koi Peirich yet for the Pats.

As we know, Genesis Smith was notorious last year for his poor run defense. Below are his numbers. It should be noted that Genesis Smith fell to the back of round 4 despite being highly touted as a CF coverage safety.

63 run defense grade, 11 missed tackles, 20% missed tackle rate.

Here are Benefield's and Peirich's numbers.

Ty Benefield, LSU (frmly Boise St) - 64.8 run defense, 18 missed tackles!, 23.7 missed tackle rate
Koi Peirich, Oregon (frmly Minnesota) - 64.9 run defense, 17 missed tackles!, 25% missed tackle rate

I'll add in a third - Ohio State's new safety Earl Little Jr

Earl Little Jr, Ohio State (frmly Florida State) - 64.3 run defense, 14 missed tackles, 23.3 missed tackle rate

All three are worse tacklers than Genesis Smith. They will need to increase significantly before I think Vrabel would consider them for his defense.

Also, add the following. All have worse missed tackle rates than Genesis Smith.

Jackson Bennee, Utah
Tao Johnson, UCLA
Dalton Johnson, Texas A&M
Zechariah Poyser, Miami

 

[manxman2601]

With his size, athleticism, good grades and coming from a big school, I'm surprised Jelani McDonald doesn't get more love/hype.

Up to 53 on the consensus big board. Ugh! Now safety 4. Safeties 3,5 and 6 - Perich, Benefield and Bennee are all included in the terrible tacklers post above.

 

[manxman2601]

Terry Moore, Ohio State
6-0, 200
For now, I'm out on Benefield, Bennee and Perich because of their poor tackling stats. That could obviously change if they improve in 2026. And with Jelani McDonald moving up to 53 on the consensus big board, I'm looking for a mid-round safety to include in future mocks. Dashawn Spears has been my guy up til now but that's only one.

I think we have two options at safety. Find someone like Craig Woodson - an interchangeable piece that is good in run defense closer to the line of scrimmage but perhaps not a clear single-high free safety type. The advantage to this is that offences won't know who who's dropping into coverage oand who's coming up into the box. However it does limit you from having a proper single high.

Alternatively, you find someone to compliment Woodson. A single high safety that allows Woodson to do his damage nearer the LoS (see the SB). That appears to be the direction the Pats are going this year with the addition of Kevin Byard.

Dashawn Spears fits the former, Terry Moore more the latter.

The very brief back story on Moore is that he had an excellent season at Duke in '24, missed all of '25 due to an ACL and has moved to Ohio State for '26. Ohio State moving for him after a missed year to be the replacement, potentially, for Caleb Downs is a big plus for him in my book.

Just to demonstrate how good his sophomore season in '24 was, here are his grades.

Overall defense - 90.1
Run Defense - 81.7
Coverage - 89.2
Missed Tackle rate - 16.7%.

The missed tackle rate is a let down and that needs to be better but that was his first full season as a starter so I'm prepared to be a little forgiving. The other grades are close to elite though, especially for a complimentary piece to Woodson with the coverage grade and how he gets his hands on the ball. He had 4 INTs, 5 PBUs and a 46.1 passer rating against, better than Caleb Downs or Emmanuel McNeill-Warren last year. So there's a lot to like. As Clonamery said, he's one to look forward to this year.

I'm not as high on this safety class as I was, mainly because for now, unless we use a first rounder, the class becomes a bunch of bad tacklers. Everything could change and I hope it does but right now, Spears and Moore will be my mid-round options in future mocks.

 

[Clonamery]

Peyton Bowen OK Sr 6' 200 lbs, might be someone to add for mid-round.

 

[manxman2601]

Corey Myrick, Clemson (frmly Southern Miss)
6-3, 200
Another reason to watch Clemson?

He transferred from So. Miss to Clemson this past off-season. His grades at So. Miss are intriguing to say the least.

Overall Defense - 87.3
Run Defense - 84.0 (11.6 missed tackle)
Coverage - 86.2 (2 INTs, 2 PBUs, 53.7 passer rating against).

I love the size, I love the grades, I don't love that he's a true junior - another one to worry about whether they declare or not.

 

[manxman2601]

Keon Sabb, Alabama
6-1, 208

I want to state from the outset, there is nothing about Keon Sabb that I love. However, there is nothing about him that I don't like either (except perhaps his age - he'll be 24 on draft day).

However...

He is just very very solid. Missed tackle rate below 10%, all his defensive grades are in the green (ie 70 and above), he grades equally well at zone coverage as he does man coverage. In fact, he grades slightly higher than KJ Bolden at both.

He is the ideal 4th round pick at safety, basically, he's Craig Woodson. Nothing to really excite, but just super solid.