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leafnose
[
www.si.com]
SAFETY FIRST (OR AT LEAST SECOND)
Expanding your defensive scheme almost always involves safeties, the most maneuverable pieces on the chessboard. Lately, with offenses using more flex tight ends and running the ball out of three-receiver sets, defenses have taken to replacing their third linebacker with a third safety, putting more athleticism on the field. And so it’s no surprise that, after free agency this year brought sizable contracts to a host of safeties (Landon Collins, Earl Thomas, Tyrann Mathieu, Lamarcus Joyner, Adrian Amos and, on the second tier, Kenny Vaccaro, Tashaun Gipson and Eric Weddle), this draft also proved how highly teams value the position. Since 2010, NFL drafts have averaged 4.7 safeties taken in the first two rounds, but this year, teams selected six pure safeties in those rounds (including Darnell Savage, the first one off the board, at 21 to the Packers), plus two more who may well play the position (Joejuan Williams in New England and Lonnie Johnson in Houston).
This is a very different view from the one we heard sometimes last year, which said that the NFL was devaluing safety because it wasn't as important in the face of passing game innovations. That theory was a response to safeties getting less in free agency and in the 2nd contract market. No, safety is as valued as ever. It also turns out that last's year's drop in money for safety was a one year thing. They're just back to the norm, where contracts go up steadily every year, for safety just like every other position.
