2020 Draft Board: Safeties

**Note: changes have been made since the draft happened. I spent May and June adjusting my process by setting strict parameters and adding all combine participants from 2008-2017. Those two improvements caused major changes to my factors and table, which means some players that were on my draft board have been removed, some players that were removed from my draft board have been put back on it, and some players have seen a drastic shift in the round grades they were originally given.

Rounding out my Draft Board are the Safeties. There are a limited number of factors with this position which only allowed for a couple of players to be eliminated from my draft board. This is the final piece; I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed doing the research and then writing them.

Players Removed:

I was able to eliminate 1 Safety. As you can see, he’s has an "E" next to his name, which means he received my “Empty” label, if you are wondering what that label means check the Draft Boards for the QBs, RBs or WRs. They are:

Jalen Elliott (E)

The Table

After I eliminated players, I created a table to determine the Draft Round I would attach to each remaining player. I used their college stats and combine results to determine the chances of them being drafted in the first three rounds by setting a low extreme and high extreme for each stat. If they had more low extremes than their draft grade fell, more high extremes and it rose.

My Draft Board

My Top 5:

1) L’Jarius Sneed (Louisiana Tech)

Analysis: Given his athleticism (4.37 forty, 41” Vertical, 131” Broad Jump) coupled with his slighter frame (6’, 192) part of me thinks that the team that drafts him may try him out at Cornerback. Nevertheless, he had the college production to show that he can put his skills to use and this is the kind of freakish athleticism that you find a way to make work.

2) Jeremy Chinn (Southern Illinois)

Analysis: 4.45 forty, 41” Vertical, 138” Broad Jump all packed into a 6’3, 221-pound body! He is the guy that teams need to matchup with the big, athletic Tight Ends that dominate the middle of the field. His injury history concerns me, as does the fact that he played for a small school, those are the reasons he isn’t at the top of this list.

3) Kyle Dugger (Lenoir-Rhyne)

Analysis: Basically, re-read what I wrote about Chinn. He posted a 4.49 forty, 41” Vertical and 138” Broad Jump. The biggest difference is that he’s 6’1, oh and Lenoir-Rhyne is an even smaller school than Southern Illinois. Still, production, explosiveness and size are all great things you want to see in the guys you have roaming the back end of your defense.

4) Xavier McKinney (Alabama)

Analysis: McKinney is finishing where he started, as my top Safety. I don’t think he did anything at the Combine that moves him up into the mid-early teens, so I still view him as coming off the board in the late-first. His 4.63 forty, 122” Broad Jump and 36” Vertical were perfectly fine. The production from college was solid. His size is good. I think he’s going to be a solid starter in the NFL for years to come.

5) Grant Delpit (LSU)

Analysis: Mr. Wildcard in this whole process. You can’t have worries about tackling if you play Safety, so you have to ask yourself: Do you believe that he had trouble making tackles because he was dealing with an injury? If you do believe it, maybe he locks himself in as a first-round pick. If you don’t, then he slides down your board a little. I would wait until the second to take him. Tackling issues is something you can work on as a coach but not something you overlook when making a first-round selection. The athleticism isn’t something you can coach and that’s something I think we would’ve seen in full had he had a Pro Day.

Sleeper: K’Von Wallace (Clemson)

Analysis: Why Wallace? The forty was good (4.53) the jumps were impressive (38” Vertical, 133” Broad Jump), but the 20-yard shuttle (4.15) and 3 Cone Drill (6.76) were where it was at! Put all of it together and throw in his solid college production for the National Champ runners-up and you can see why he resides in my sleeper slot. Side note, it was difficult choosing between him and J.R. Reed, Wallace got the bump because he actually ran his shuttle and 3 cone drill at the Combine.