Rank the top safeties (Free safeties and strong safeties together)

So I'm interested in the rankings of the top safeties in this years draft class. I'd love to see some rankings from people who have really seen a lot of these guys play. What would your rankings look like?

And remember we can always try to move Dashon Goldson to strong safety if necessary, if we happen to draft a FS and resign Goldson. Is kenny vacarro the consensus #1 safety?

Yes Vacarro is the #1. Hes the best FS. By far the best in coverage and is a solid tackler. Matt Elam of Florida is #2 hes a little short at 5'11 but hes the best tackler. Hes more of a strong safety. An 8th man in the box type safety. Very strong in run support. Hes a good cover guy but hes more suited for a run supporter. #3 would Eric Reid from LSU. Hes an excelleny cover guy. Very fast and strong but.he has been known to miss some tackles. Hes a 1/2 field type guy. Great for a tampa 2. From that point on you have a tj McDonald USC, Phillip Thomas, Bacarri Rambo. These guys will slip to the 3rd round so im leaning towards one of them. This class is very strong at safety in the way thats theres not a steep drop off in talent. You have the top 3 and then you 5-6 guys that could easily be starters in a year or two.

eon,

You left out Cyprien from Florida International. I'd put him at 3, behind Vacarro and Elam.

Originally posted by EezyNiner:

eon,

You left out Cyprien from Florida International. I'd put him at 3, behind Vacarro and Elam.

Yup your right. I haven't watched any video on him but Ive heard he's good. Some people have him mocked in the 1st to us.

I think Elam fits our style of play much better though. His tackling impresses me as does his hitting. He would be a great replacement for Whitner.

It's going to be very exciting to see who we go after. I hope we grab the right guy!

The good news is that this is a deep draft for the top 3 positions of need for us (DB, DL and WR). I think whoever we wind up with will be a solid contributor (hopefully).

Originally posted by EezyNiner:
The good news is that this is a deep draft for the top 3 positions of need for us (DB, DL and WR). I think whoever we wind up with will be a solid contributor (hopefully).

Yeah you would think that we'd be able to hit on one of those for each of those positions with how deep they are. This is the perfect draft for our situation because also the qb draft class sucks, which makes Alex Smith even more valuable.

I don't watch a lot of college ball. I do try to read/watch a lot about draft prospects start the off season each year.

The more I see of that Swearinger kid the more I like the idea of Goldson paired up with him. They seem like similar players, cept Swearinger seems to have better coverage skills? Feel free to correct if i'm off base.

Would he still be around beginning of the 3rd?

Originally posted by WINiner:
I don't watch a lot of college ball. I do try to read/watch a lot about draft prospects start the off season each year.

The more I see of that Swearinger kid the more I like the idea of Goldson paired up with him. They seem like similar players, cept Swearinger seems to have better coverage skills? Feel free to correct if i'm off base.

Would he still be around beginning of the 3rd?

Possibly.....late 2nd to mid 3rd. He's not super flashy but he's a guy who is always seemingly in position to make plays, very good all-around safety, I like him a lot. Initially I had him in the 4th round but based on everything I've seen, he's definitely going to be picked higher than that.

Im firmly on the Phillip Thomas bandwagon.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Im firmly on the Phillip Thomas bandwagon.

I kinda hopped off.....there's some things that definitely trouble me about him. I watched him against Boise State specifically...it was pretty bad, he has a strong tendency of overrunning and misdiagnosing plays that was evident in other games as well. He's definitely a ballhawk but I see a guy who takes too many bad risks going for the homerun turnover instead of looking to knock the ball down or simply wrap up and tackle. Some of that can be coached, but generally its tough to change a players natural inclinations and instincts. I still like him as a player, just not as high as I was on him previously

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by WINiner:
I don't watch a lot of college ball. I do try to read/watch a lot about draft prospects start the off season each year.

The more I see of that Swearinger kid the more I like the idea of Goldson paired up with him. They seem like similar players, cept Swearinger seems to have better coverage skills? Feel free to correct if i'm off base.

Would he still be around beginning of the 3rd?

Possibly.....late 2nd to mid 3rd. He's not super flashy but he's a guy who is always seemingly in position to make plays, very good all-around safety, I like him a lot. Initially I had him in the 4th round but based on everything I've seen, he's definitely going to be picked higher than that.

deja vu of thoughts in my mind

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Im firmly on the Phillip Thomas bandwagon.

I kinda hopped off.....there's some things that definitely trouble me about him. I watched him against Boise State specifically...it was pretty bad, he has a strong tendency of overrunning and misdiagnosing plays that was evident in other games as well. He's definitely a ballhawk but I see a guy who takes too many bad risks going for the homerun turnover instead of looking to knock the ball down or simply wrap up and tackle. Some of that can be coached, but generally its tough to change a players natural inclinations and instincts. I still like him as a player, just not as high as I was on him previously

6-1 210 pounds Extremely smart. Played FS and SS, played man and zone, Good Run stopper, pass rusher, and is a ball hawk. 82 tackles, 4 sacks. 12 TFL, 8 INT, 3 TD's 5 FF last season alone. Thats after missing the entir 2011 season wit a greusome leg injury. Guy is legit. He was asked to do everything, and often came out on top. Also, Fresno State has a history of playing aweful football against Boise.

IMO he may end up being the best FS in the draft. Tim Mcdonald has this kid ready for the NFL.

someone give us an update