Slimm's 2019 Safeties (seniors)

1. Johnathan Abram / Mississippi St. / 5'11", 205

2. Juan Thornhill / Virginia / 6'0", 205

3. Nasir Adderley / Delaware / 6'0", 206

4. Will Harris / Boston College / 6'1", 207

5. Darnell Savage Jr. / Maryland / 5'11", 198

6. Zedrick Woods / Ole Miss / 5'11", 205

7. Ugochukwu Amadi / Oregon / 5'9", 199

8. Marquis Blair / Utah / 6'1", 195

9. Mike Edwards / Kentucky / 5'10", 205

10. Sheldrick Redwine / Miami / 6'0", 196

11. Andrew Wingard / Wyoming / 6'0", 209

12. Khari Willis / Michigan St. / 5'11", 213

13. P.J. Locke / Texas / 5'11", 210

14. Marvell Tell / USC / 6'2", 198

15. Darius West / Kentucky / 5'11", 208

16. Saquon Hampton / Rutgers / 6'1", 206

17. Jaquan Johnson / Miami / 5'10", 191

18. Adarius Pickett / UCLA / 5'11", 200

19. Tyree Kinnel / Michigan / 5'11", 202

20. Micah Abernathy / Tennessee / 6'0", 203

21. Nik Needham / UTEP / 6'0", 203

22. Delvon Randall / Temple / 6'0", 208

23. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles / Arizona / 6'2", 205

24. Donovan Wilson / Texas A&M / 6'0", 199

25. Evan Worthington / Colorado / 6'2", 212

26. Jonathan Crawford / Indiana / 6'1", 205

27. Justin Clifton / Arkansas St. / 6'0", 213

28. Cameron Glenn / Wake Forest / 6'1", 205

29. Marcus Epps / Wyoming / 6'0", 206

30. A.J. Westbrook / Florida St. / 6'0", 192

31. Jah'Shawn Johnson / Texas Tech / 5'10", 185

32. Ridwan Issahaku / TCU / 6'1", 196

33. D'Cota Dixon / Wisconsin / 5'10", 204

34. Mark McLaurin / Mississippi St. / 6'1", 212

35. JoJo McIntosh / Washington / 6'1", 215

36. Kendall Adams / Kansas St. / 6'1", 228

37. Cedarius Rookard / Troy / 6'1", 205

38. Santos Ramirez / Arkansas / 6'2", 204

39. Tre Neal / Nebraska / 6'1", 215

40. Dameon Baber / Nevada / 5'10", 205

41. Frank Buncom / Stanford / 6'2", 205

42. Dravon Askew-Henry / W. Virginia / 5'10", 196

43. Jalen Young / FAU / 5'10", 184

44. McKinley Whitfield / Tulsa / 6'3", 217

45. Kiy Hester / Rutgers / 5'11", 209

46. Vaughnte Dorsey / Texas Tech / 5'11", 200

I realize it's tough to get looks at FCS guys but if you get a chance, take a look at S Nasir Adderley of Delaware.

He's a deep safety that seems extremely RELIABLE as a tackler, even fighting through blocks to bring down the ball carrier.

I love his easy back pedal, and he shows really good horizontal range on the deep end.



Easton Stick use his eyes and a slot WR on a deep post to drag Adderley all the way to the offensive right hash, before clicking over and throw the deep fade to the offensive left sideline.

Adderley still managed to make it to just outside the numbers by the time the ball got there. He was perhaps 10 feet shy of making a play that he had no business being 10 feet shy of making, and the net effect was he was able to help make sure that went down as a 40 yard gain instead of a 50 yard touchdown.

Can easily see why he's got 8 interceptions and 15 PDs the last two years.

Bottom line you find me a guy that thrives in deep center like that, shows that kind of range and easy movement skills, also seems to be pretty disciplined, AND he makes you feel good about tackling in space, fighting through blocks...that's a good sell.

BONUS: Ball skills and verticality here (didn't make the play but damn)



Look at him separate this player from the football...

That's a big boy throw Easton Stick made at 8:19 in the top video. Exceptional. The Adderley kid got abused on that one coming up to make a tackle.

Stick really is a fantastic athlete for the position. The Adderley kid does look like a prospect though. Where'd you find this kid? It'd be interesting to see how he performed in an All-Star setting.

TedSlimmJr said:

That's a big boy throw Easton Stick made at 8:19 in the top video. Exceptional. The Adderley kid got abused on that one coming up to make a tackle.

Stick really is a fantastic athlete for the position. The Adderley kid does look like a prospect though. Where'd you find this kid? It'd be interesting to see how he performed in an All-Star setting.

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Was watching Easton Stick, just like you were doing.

It seemed like Delaware was running a pretty good secondary coverage against NDSU so there had to be some pretty good athletes in there, and what flashed at me most was the range of Adderley on the play I described. I'd just seen the kid on the left hash mark and all the sudden he's 10 feet shy of the right sideline? That's something. So I go back and watch the whole thing, and with the exception of the play you mentioned where he came up on the wrong angle for the tackle (I'd actually be curious to know what he saw on that)...he was having a day.

Incidentally...yeah Stick got ALL of that one. I was pretty astounded. I'm still astounded, as I sit here and look at the measurements on that throw. I did *not* know he had that in him. I'll have to look at my fuller library to be sure but I'm not sure I had any one of Lock's throws quite where that one came out, in terms of distance/avg.speed.

Most Underrated: Johnathan Abram, Delvon Randall, Zedrick Woods, Justin Clifton, Mike Edwards, Darnell Savage Jr., P.J. Locke, Nik Needham.

Most Overrated: N/A.

TedSlimmJr said:

Most Underrated: Johnathan Abram, Delvon Randall, Zedrick Woods, Justin Clifton, Mike Edwards, Darnell Savage Jr., P.J. Locke, Nik Needham.

Most Overrated: N/A.

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Edwards and Savage in particular feel like guys the NFL should covet - with their versatility, ball skills, and general ability to make plays in space. I'd throw in Thornhill with that group as players I'd target in the 3rd Round. I feel like one or two of then go in the 2nd, and they probably should, but I think there's a good chance one slips through the cracks. Shoot, Justin Reid fell to the 3rd last year, so maybe one of these guys falls to the 4th.

Nasir Adderley has accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

That's usually a good sign for an FCS kid to get a Senior Bowl invite already.

j-off-her-doll said:

Edwards and Savage in particular feel like guys the NFL should covet - with their versatility, ball skills, and general ability to make plays in space. I'd throw in Thornhill with that group as players I'd target in the 3rd Round. I feel like one or two of then go in the 2nd, and they probably should, but I think there's a good chance one slips through the cracks. Shoot, Justin Reid fell to the 3rd last year, so maybe one of these guys falls to the 4th.

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How would you describe the differences and strengths/weakness of the two Wyoming safeties?

Would you agree that although Wingard has starting ability in the NFL as a one-on-one tackler, he has some liabilities in coverage in terms of range and recognition?

While Epps has a better feel for coverage and ball skills?

How do you stack these two on your board and what defensive styles do you believe are best fits for each?

TedSlimmJr said:

How would you describe the differences and strengths/weakness of the two Wyoming safeties?

Would you agree that although Wingard has starting ability in the NFL as a one-on-one tackler, he has some liabilities in coverage in terms of range and recognition?

While Epps has a better feel for coverage and ball skills?

How do you stack these two on your board and what defensive styles do you believe are best fits for each?

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That's exactly how I felt about them. I haven't watched either much this year, so I need to do that. My general sense is that Wingard is better at what he does, but Epps has a skillset that translates better. Both guys do (or did last time I watched) an excellent job of finding the ball. After 2016, I felt like Epps was primed to develop into a Day-2 Safety prospect. 2017 was a little disappointing for me. Unless he's improved substantially, I'll have him Day 3, but of those types of Safeties, I like his chances of developing into a starter - since development isn't linear. Wingard is very good, but I feel like he needs to run better than I think he will to make me like his chances of seeing the field a lot as a pro. He's kind of like a small LB, and I don't think he has the frame to make a trip like Nate Gerry (who was much better in coverage/had much better ball skills). I like him as a player, and I'm unsure of him as an NFL prospect. Of course, maybe 2018 tape changes my mind. Wingard's best chance is a Cover 3 team liking him as a SS, and I think Epps can play in 2-deep looks.

ckparrothead said:

Nasir Adderley has accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

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He has no business out here with these children...

Mark McLaurin is an NFL player. One of three (among the draft eligibles) in that Mississippi State secondary.

The problem with Delvon Randall and a bunch of these other guys is they look like they're moving in quick sand sometimes. Randall can't be trusted to play deep because if a runner ever breaks into the clear and Randall has to come down on top of him with a three-way go, he just doesn't have the quickness or speed to be a last line of defense. Otherwise I would like Randall quite a bit, but this is a fatal flaw unless he can be salvaged as a box safety.

It's a weak safety class overall. I struggle to find 3 legitimate starters among the Senior safety class - not counting guys that could line up in the slot or play nickel. But true deep safety options. The underclassman group isn't significantly better. You just can't count on many of 'em in my opinion.

The athletic guys like Marvell Tell, you just can't count on 'em to make the open field tackles they're supposed to. One of the worst open field tackle attempts I saw among any of these guys was Marvell Tell against Cal quarterback Chase Garbers. Just an inexcusable effort and attempt at a tackle head up with Garbers running straight at him the resulted in a huge gain.. But he'll test at the top of this group athletically.

Jonathan Crawford stayed smoked against Ohio St.

A.J. Westbrook can run and has incredible range, but won't tackle.

It's just on and on with each one of these guys. I see issues I don't like.

Then you've got a small group of over-achievers like Wingard, Khari Willis, Rookard, and D'Cota Dixon. Smart guys, good football players who produce because you can count on them to be where they're supposed to be. But have physical limitations in coverage.

Same story with the underclassman. NFL teams are throwing darts at this safety class in my opinion. The real value is with the nickel/slot options among both Seniors and underclassman - kids like CGJ, Mike Bell, Adderley, Edwards, Savage, Locke, Johnson, Pickett, etc.

Yeah we've had discussions before about the fast guys who can't tackle for sh-t.

But I find quite a few inside players that I like as contributors. Like you say not many that you love to be able to start and be a difference maker.

I think Johnathan Abram is one of the latter.

But I think Mark McLaurin could be a starter. Back in 2017 he was an interception magnet. He's got great length that you can see on the film, how he uses it. He's a reliable tackler. He's physical and plays without regard for blockers because he's such a natural at getting leverage, shutting down what he needs to shut down, while still tracking the ball. The length helps. He's a very smart player.

And when you get right down to it, he's going to show up athletic. I think when you're playing next to guys like Brandon Bryant and Johnathan Abrams, maybe you get tagged a little bit as "the unathletic one"...but the fact is those other two are freaks, and McLaurin can move out there.

The three Bulldogs in the secondary, Abrams, McLaurin, and Peters, all three are NFL players and big reasons they had the best defense in the country.

I don't see much with McLaurin. Too stiff. I believe the front 7 for state, along with the defensive line coach we just hired, was more of the engine behind such an outstanding defense as opposed to the back 7. Although the kid I like out of that secondary the most is the corner Dantzler - he's in my top 6-8 underclassman CB's for the 2020 draft. I think he'll come out early next year as a RS Junior. Halfway thought he might come out this year. He could have in my opinion.