Telvin Smith Florida St. LB/SS

Telvin Smith looks like a Chancellor clone, this guy has said he wants to stay at LB but man this guy would be a beast at SS. 6-3 218 lbs

Chancellor was a 4 year starter at free safety, Smith is not even remotely close to being the same kind of player, he's an undersized linebacker who does well in coverage. Smith has said in no uncertain terms that he does not want to play safety.

Don't we already have that type of player on the roster (Moody)

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Chancellor was a 4 year starter at free safety, Smith is not even remotely close to being the same kind of player, he's an undersized linebacker who does well in coverage. Smith has said in no uncertain terms that he does not want to play safety.

He doesn't have a say does he? Bruce Miller didn't, Smith would be a nice project to whomever wants to convert him.

Originally posted by jimrat:
He doesn't have a say does he? Bruce Miller didn't, Smith would be a nice project to whomever wants to convert him.

Why would you draft a guy who prefers to be a linebacker, whose background consists almost entirely of playing linebacker and then expect him to become a safety in the NFL? What makes you think that Smith is fluid enough in coverage to competently play safety in the NFL?

The hype about Chancellor has gone beyond ridiculous, he's a decent safety who looks better than he actually is due to the pressure that Seattle is able to consistently generate on quarterbacks. That said, he played four full years of safety in college, he wasn't a project that you have to transition from playing one position to another. He has rare size for the position, you aren't going to get a clone of him just because you draft a guy of similar size and decide that since Chancellor plays safety, Smith can do it too.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by jimrat:

He doesn't have a say does he? Bruce Miller didn't, Smith would be a nice project to whomever wants to convert him.

Why would you draft a guy who prefers to be a linebacker, whose background consists almost entirely of playing linebacker and then expect him to become a safety in the NFL? What makes you think that Smith is fluid enough in coverage to competently play safety in the NFL?

The hype about Chancellor has gone beyond ridiculous, he's a decent safety who looks better than he actually is due to the pressure that Seattle is able to consistently generate on quarterbacks. That said, he played four full years of safety in college, he wasn't a project that you have to transition from playing one position to another. He has rare size for the position, you aren't going to get a clone of him just because you draft a guy of similar size and decide that since Chancellor plays safety, Smith can do it too.

This. Groupthink is dangerous. Personally, I think they gave him too much $$. Losing Bennett is going to expose Chancellor, IMO.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
This. Groupthink is dangerous. Personally, I think they gave him too much $$. Losing Bennett is going to expose Chancellor, IMO.

Looking at Smith, I see good enough coverage skills for a Tampa 2 linebacker, I don't see coverage skills sufficient for a starting NFL safety or even close. He's a super athletic, under-sized linebacker that likely will be drafted as a situational performer in a 4-3 OLB and for his contributions as a special teams ace.

When you see guys who have been safeties long-term in college and how sketchy their success is in the NFL, trying to bump a guy to that position from linebacker simply because he bears a physical resemblance to the latest flavor of the month doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by jimrat:

He doesn't have a say does he? Bruce Miller didn't, Smith would be a nice project to whomever wants to convert him.

Why would you draft a guy who prefers to be a linebacker, whose background consists almost entirely of playing linebacker and then expect him to become a safety in the NFL? What makes you think that Smith is fluid enough in coverage to competently play safety in the NFL?

The hype about Chancellor has gone beyond ridiculous, he's a decent safety who looks better than he actually is due to the pressure that Seattle is able to consistently generate on quarterbacks. That said, he played four full years of safety in college, he wasn't a project that you have to transition from playing one position to another. He has rare size for the position, you aren't going to get a clone of him just because you draft a guy of similar size and decide that since Chancellor plays safety, Smith can do it too.

Its not like its a crazy idea, been reading there are a lot of teams that want to convert him to safety.

Originally posted by jimrat:
Its not like its a crazy idea, been reading there are a lot of teams that want to convert him to safety.

As there always is with every small undersized linebacker with decent athleticism. The reality is that a miniscule amount of those guys end up making the switch and of those who do, even less end up being successful as safeties at the NFL level. Smith is in the process of adding weight and by the time the FSU pro day comes by I expect him to be over 222, 223 pounds and on his way to being reasonably sized for a 4-3 OLB.


Just because Chancellor has had success with Seattle doesn't mean he would have had the same success anywhere else, nor does it mean that somehow by drafting a bigger sized safety you become anymore guaranteed of success. You don't have to look any further than Aaron Rouse who was 6'4", 220 when drafted in the 3rd round by the Packers, a long-time starter at Virginia Tech who ended up being out of the NFL in essentially 2 years.

Taylor Mays

Why can't he play backer? Derrick Brooks was only 7lbs. Bigger.

Originally posted by T-9ers:
Why can't he play backer? Derrick Brooks was only 7lbs. Bigger.

By the time all is said and done I see him getting up to around 225-230, decent size for a 4-3 OLB, particularly in a Tampa Two system.

Chancellors a LB guys. He may have the SS title but the fact of the matter is he plays closer to the LOS then any SS does in any other system. His responsibilities in Seattles scheme are fundamentally different then most SS in almost any defense. So if you're trying to use Chancellor as validation to draft Smith you're ignoring the fact that Fangios defense requires much more in coverage then Seattles does.

I haven't payed much attention to Smith, but I would like to know how he was used in FSU's defense. The video that was posted is actually pretty awful for scouting purposes. We don't get to see positioning before the snap, movement after the snap, and offense formations. By rule highlights are useless.



He's a LB in this game. He looks good in coverage. He lets the blocker get on him. He's slow tracking the play. It's funny but he would probably be a great fit in Seattles zone. Definitely not a good fit for this defense tho.

Originally posted by jimrat:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Chancellor was a 4 year starter at free safety, Smith is not even remotely close to being the same kind of player, he's an undersized linebacker who does well in coverage. Smith has said in no uncertain terms that he does not want to play safety.

He doesn't have a say does he? Bruce Miller didn't, Smith would be a nice project to whomever wants to convert him.

He does have a say compared to Bruce Miller. Unlike Miller (who was barely draftable as an undersized, short-armed DE/LB), Telvin Smith is one of the better/more athletic LBs in the draft, and can make it clear to teams that he has no interest in playing safety. Plus, Miller didn't seem to have an issue with it whereas Smith does. Sure, teams can go ahead and draft him and MAKE him play that position (like you suggest), but they'd be stupid to do so.

It's tough enough playing in the NFL when you actually want to play a certain role...how much more difficult would you make it for a kid who made it clear to anyone who'd listen that he doesn't want to do a certain thing? You're inviting trouble when you don't have to, and that's more about hubris and ego ("we'll make him do this and he'll like it!") than anything else. There are plenty of talented safeties out there that not only have the experience playing the position (unlike Smith) but actually want to play that position.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
He does have a say compared to Bruce Miller. Unlike Miller (who was barely draftable as an undersized, short- armed DE/LB), Telvin Smith is one of the better/more athletic LBs in the draft, and can make it clear to teams that he has no interest in playing safety. Plus, Miller didn't seem to have an issue with it whereas Smith does. Sure, teams can go ahead and draft him and MAKE him play that position (like you suggest), but they'd be stupid to do so.

It's tough enough playing in the NFL when you actually want to play a certain role...how much more difficult would you make it for a kid who made it clear to anyone who'd listen that he doesn't want to do a certain thing? You're inviting trouble when you don't have to, and that's more about hubris and ego ("we'll make him do this and he'll like it!") than anything else. There are plenty of talented safeties out there that not only have the experience playing the position (unlike Smith) but actually want to play that position.

This. I haven't heard any justification why its better to take a linebacker like Smith to play safety as opposed to Jimmie Ward, Brock Vereen or any number of actual safeties out there.


Eon also makes a good point, Chancellor looks good IN Seattle's system which allows him to play up closer to the line of scrimmage than pretty much any other safety in the NFL, if they dropped him back deep in coverage regularly the way the 49ers do, I think you'd see him perform a lot more poorly. Rather than trying to copy what Seattle is doing, I think the 49ers should attempt to have safeties that are basically interchangeable and more or less equal in coverage.