Maybe there's some confusion. The instincts needed to excel as a centerfielder are somewhat unique. In general, if a Safety has great single-high instincts, they'll translate to other areas, but the inverse is not necessarily true. Not many players can line up 80+ feet off the ball, often in the middle of the field, and react quickly enough to cover sideline to sideline. Eddie Jackson would have been a better example than Smith or Byard, but he played in more 2-high looks, which Fangio has always favored, and I don't think his range is good enough to do what Reed and Thomas did out of single-high.
Malik Hooker is the closest thing coming out of college. If you want to see what elite range looks like, go watch his INT vs Clemson in the playoffs. That was about as good as anything I've seen.
Minkah Fitzpatrick is a tick late processing from deep. It showed up on film in Alabama. As a corner, he played MUCH better as a rookie than Xavien Howard did. Howard flashed, Fitzpatrick was very good overall. For much of the season, he had the lowest passer rating against according to PFF, and he posted 2 INT's and 9 PD. 2018 was Howard's first really good year. Before that, he was a player that flashed potential but gave up too many big plays.
The distinction many don't seem to understand is that a very good CB is worth much more than a very good Safety. Unless you have a Safety with elite range and/or elite playmaking ability, a good (not even very good) CB will be more valuable. Look at what each is paid if you don't believe me. So, I invoke the names of greats like Reed and Thomas, because that's the kind impact you need to justify a top-15 pick at Safety. To say that Fitzpatrick is not Deion Sanders completely misses the point and value structure of the positions.
The exception would be a guy like Derwin James who is a TE eraser, who can also match up with WR's, and make plays in the backfield either as a blitzer or edge rusher. James is rare, because he's a CB/S/ILB/OLB hybrid.
