Slimms 2017 Safeties

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Obviously, those 39 are not all draftable. So you think he shouldn't even get drafted? I saw your overall list elsewhere, including something like 10 or so UDFA safeties, and he was not even among them. I would estimate with all the UDFA players included on your rankings list there were over 300 altogether. Does that mean you think all of those players are better than Thompson?

What it means is that he's just not a prospect that appeals to me. Thompson may end up equal to or better than most of the safeties I have here anywhere from about 15-39, but he's just not one of my personal favorites.

Which is all these threads are every year that I make them....hand selected kids that I've taken the time to evaluate and study over the course of their careers. Many of em in person going back to their high school days. Anybody can go to endless draft sites and see player X ranked somewhere if they want to, just because said player was invited to the combine, etc. Not because whatever talking head ranked him there has ever even necessarily see him play. They really have no idea if he can play or not.

Some just don't make it in my rankings. That's just how it is. Doesn't mean that somebody else can't like em though. All it means is that there's something about the player that sticks out or appeals to me as a football player if he's listed here. Doesn't necessarily represent that anybody in the NFL sees it that way. Heck, I don't like a lot of the players the NFL spends draft picks on.

Furthermore, I can't understand the rhyme or reason why some get to participate in the combine while others that are clearly better players get snubbed. I can't imagine why Dante Barnett wasn't in Indianapolis, while a kid like Lorenzo Jerome from St. Francis-PA gets to go and run 4.7. There's just no way this kid can play in the NFL. I'm pretty confident Dante Barnett can.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Slimm, what are you concerns with Kai Nacua? As I watch him, I see a big, fluid athlete, who reads the field well and breaks on the ball as well as any Safety in the class. I see nfldraftscout ranks him as their 429th prospect. Obviously, you're much higher on him than they are. Do you think they just haven't seen him play yet? Or, am I missing some glaring flaw in his game? Couldn't find an age, but I see that he committed in 2012, so I'm guessing he's around 22/23 (not a problem). I don't think there are 64 Safeties in the NFL better than Nacua will be in his 2nd season, and he looks pretty polished, so it might not take that long. Based on the way he sees the field and breaks on the ball, I'd expect him to play sooner than later.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Slimm, what are you concerns with Kai Nacua? As I watch him, I see a big, fluid athlete, who reads the field well and breaks on the ball as well as any Safety in the class. I see nfldraftscout ranks him as their 429th prospect. Obviously, you're much higher on him than they are. Do you think they just haven't seen him play yet? Or, am I missing some glaring flaw in his game? Couldn't find an age, but I see that he committed in 2012, so I'm guessing he's around 22/23 (not a problem). I don't think there are 64 Safeties in the NFL better than Nacua will be in his 2nd season, and he looks pretty polished, so it might not take that long. Based on the way he sees the field and breaks on the ball, I'd expect him to play sooner than later.

Who knows how or why nfldraftscout ranks players, but of course there's not 428 better prospects than Kai Nacua. You couldn't turn on a BYU game without seeing this kid baiting quarterbacks into bad throws and picking off passes. Not to mention the INT off Josh Allen to seal the bowl win vs. Wyoming.

His game film is just too consistent and too good to be ranked that low. Furthermore, he put up outstanding pro day numbers to confirm his athleticism.

The concerns are pretty typical for any BYU player....age. But more importantly for Nacua, I think there's some concern about his character and maturity. He has to answer questions and atone for his role in the bowl game brawl vs. Memphis a few years ago. Attempts to sucker punch players in the back of the head, etc. before a Memphis player completely cleaned his clock. It was all on video.

Other than that I don't really have any issues with him as a player. He's a top 100 player in this draft from a purely football perspective in my estimation. Heck of a safety prospect. Size, speed, burst, intelligence, ball skills, production, consistency....he's put it all on display for NFL evaluators to see. Whether they see it or not is anyone's guess.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

Who knows how or why nfldraftscout ranks players, but of course there's not 428 better prospects than Kai Nacua. You couldn't turn on a BYU game without seeing this kid baiting quarterbacks into bad throws and picking off passes. Not to mention the INT off Josh Allen to seal the bowl win vs. Wyoming.

His game film is just too consistent and too good to be ranked that low. Furthermore, he put up outstanding pro day numbers to confirm his athleticism.

The concerns are pretty typical for any BYU player....age. But more importantly for Nacua, I think there's some concern about his character and maturity. He has to answer questions and atone for his role in the bowl game brawl vs. Memphis a few years ago. Attempts to sucker punch players in the back of the head, etc. before a Memphis player completely cleaned his clock. It was all on video.

Other than that I don't really have any issues with him as a player. He's a top 100 player in this draft from a purely football perspective in my estimation. Heck of a safety prospect. Size, speed, burst, intelligence, ball skills, production, consistency....he's put it all on display for NFL evaluators to see. Whether they see it or not is anyone's guess.

Had that INT for a TD to seal the game against Boise St last year, too. I'm seeing what you're seeing here. If you need a true FS, he might be alone on that third tier (after Hooker and Williams). And, he actually plays the deep ball better than Williams - who showed some issues tracking the ball against BYU. After Obi, Marcus Williams, and Josh Jones (who was close) Nacua's Pro Day would have bested any of the Combine performances from the other Safeties. Fun player to watch, and I appreciate the character insights. When I was watching him, I saw some references to the fight, but I haven't checked into it.

 

[ckparrothead]

I remember looking at a few games of Kai Nacua's a year ago, and I've been guilty of forgetting about him.

The thing that disturbs me about watching him play football, actually two things, is he's way too NICE, and he doesn't hustle. At all. No motor.

This is one of the very rare cases when I wouldn't blame a person for not knowing he was actually as good an athlete as he tested out to be at his pro day. That's because he's never at a gallop. Ever. He's somewhere between a trot and a canter at all times.

He makes decisions constantly about whether the ball is in his AO or not. And if he's decided it's not, trot trot trot trot. He has no interest in being second wave help in case the ball breaks loose or something unexpected happens. You can see it in his tackle totals. He averaged 3.7 tackles a game, basically a corner's share. And only 8 of his 48 tackles were assists. That's because he doesn't assist anyone. Remember Jordan Kovacs? Kai Nacua is the anti-Jordan Kovacs. If Kovacs had Nacua's physical talent, he'd be an annual starter.

And when he's tackling and being physical, he looks like a nice guy. You'd marry your daughter to him. He'll go out of his way to help up the ball carrier, might give him some legal or financial advice after the game, or maybe a good recommendation on an auto body shop.

That said, he DOES have attractive physical properties for a safety, and my goodness the guy is disciplined. He gets to his landmarks, he reads the play, he has ball skills. Combine those traits with always being in Two/Four, with disguised coverages and a pretty good BYU pass rush throwing in the assist, that's how you get 12 interceptions in two seasons.

 

[Hoot]

I am SHOCKED you have Nate Gerry at #1 Slimm. I'm in Nebraska, the Huskers are my team, so I've gotten to watch a lot of Gerry over these past few years. We LOVE him up here. Absolute beast on the field for us. He missed his final bowl game due to academic reasons, so that was extremely disappointing and I'm sure a red flag for NFL teams. Seeing how others rank him among the safety class, I had to double check your list when I first read it. While I don't think he is the best safety in this class (I'd put him in top 10), I have been hoping the Fins snag him late in the draft. He's got some fire. Loves to hit.