Slimm's 2015 Safeties

[I am Bane]

Read somewhere on NFL.com that Shaq Thompson is being looked at purely as a safety by most teams.

i am thinking the same thing, more opportunity for him to roam as well.... he just doesnt have the technique and fundamentals of an OLB... so-called great athlete, but just no set skills at a position, not the greatest to always draft.

 

[ckparrothead]

It's not true that he's being looked at as a safety by "most" teams. A small handful of teams are looking at him that way. He's also made it clear to them that he's a linebacker, and I applaude that because there are too many bad coaches willing to play roulette with a player's career based on them purely trying to be the smartest guy in the room. Players have every right and reason to take control of their own fate and let coaches know what they're comfortable doing and what they know that they'll never really be comfortable doing.

You make Shaq Thompson a safety and you take away everything that is compelling about him, while simultaneously giving him a whole lot of snaps doing stuff you have no idea if he can be trusted to do. I don't care what people envision in their cute little fantasies, you make a guy a safety and he's going to end up in deep coverage at some point having to show range and trustability. We have zero idea whether Thompson can show those things in that situation.

If you envision Shaq Thompson as an experimental safety then you better not be drafting him until the late 3rd or 4th round, earliest.

 

[Tannenbombs]

It's not true that he's being looked at as a safety by "most" teams. A small handful of teams are looking at him that way. He's also made it clear to them that he's a linebacker, and I applaude that because there are too many bad coaches willing to play roulette with a player's career based on them purely trying to be the smartest guy in the room. Players have every right and reason to take control of their own fate and let coaches know what they're comfortable doing and what they know that they'll never really be comfortable doing.

You make Shaq Thompson a safety and you take away everything that is compelling about him, while simultaneously giving him a whole lot of snaps doing stuff you have no idea if he can be trusted to do. I don't care what people envision in their cute little fantasies, you make a guy a safety and he's going to end up in deep coverage at some point having to show range and trustability. We have zero idea whether Thompson can show those things in that situation.

If you envision Shaq Thompson as an experimental safety then you better not be drafting him until the late 3rd or 4th round, earliest.

I definitely see why teams move players to different positions but this one doesn't make sense to me. Like you said if you put him at safety you take away all his strengths. He's a 4-3 WILL or a nickel LB who will be a star on all four of your special teams units. I just don't see why you would play him at safety. I wouldn't want him in centerfield or on the hash.