NFL Top 10 Series: Safeties

The Top 10 Series continues today with the safety position. Apologies for taking so long to write up this post. Microsoft Word has been a trouble for me and I have been busy for the last week or so as well. Nonetheless, I expect myself to be motivated to write some more and keep this thing as consistent as it gets. Want to get this whole thing done by the month of August. With all that said, here it is.

1. Eric Weddle, San Diego Chargers: Weddle isn’t much of a household name. That should change quickly, because he’s holding the title of best safety in the National Football League. He’s put together a couple of awesome seasons since arriving to the Chargers in 2007. Last season was one of his best, where the ball-hawking free safety snatched seven interceptions to go along with his 84 tackles. Last season he only gave up 110 receiving yards in coverage, outstanding numbers, and the four pass break ups and seven interceptions he had, according to Pro Football Focus, was the sum of the amount of completions he gave up (11). He’s an elite player at his position that so far has more than lived up to his contract. The best in the game.

2. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers: The best strong safety in football is also the most important piece on the Steelers’ defense. We all saw that three seasons ago when he was injured for much of the year, and the Steelers limped their way to missing the playoffs. However, with that said, he does get by with some reputation, and I do think that his value and his abilities can be overrated by most. It’s almost like he plays like a free safety, what with the way he gambles. He can be very boom-or-bust, and his aggressiveness costs him a bit sometimes. Watch highlights of him in Super Bowl XLV, as Pete Prisco of CBS Sports once entailed. Packers receivers tore him apart. Troy Polamalu is no doubt a game changing player, and a big time playmaker. That's evident with the 29 interceptions he's tallied up from snatching up opposing quarterbacks' passes, including the 7 he picked up in 2010 when he won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award. Whether he deserved that or not is one thing, because I do think there was a hint of narrative added to that. Nonetheless, the numbers are there, and that along with his game-changing abilities are too tough to ignore. He does have his flaws though, even if he does remain the best at his position.

3. Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens: Few safeties over the last decade have been as good as Ed Reed has been. Unlike his Steeler counterpart, Reed’s accomplishments and play are far from overstated, and he still brings with him to the table an excellent level of play even in 2011 while being hampered with injuries. He’s handled the responsibility as being a Cover-1 free safety for the last few years in his career, and quite honestly he’s done it about as well as anybody has ever done it. He shined brightest in Week 1 last year against Pittsburgh, and against Houston in the Divisional Playoff round. Against Houston, he broke three passes up, came away with a pressure against the best center in football last year, Chris Myers, and snatched up a massively important interception that gave Baltimore the win. Against Pittsburgh, he started off the season well, coming away with two picks and a pass deflection. What makes Reed so great? His range is phenomenal, his instincts are incredible, and his coverage ability is second to none. He also has more interceptions than any active player in the league too, as if that isn’t enough.

4. Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals: For the last 11 seasons, few safeties have played up to the consistent level that Adrian Wilson has. For that reason, he still finds himself as an elite strong safety in this league, and he has given no indication that that is going to change. Wilson’s job as the Cover-1 Strong Safety can’t be understated, and he did an excellent job of it in 2011, bringing his usual stout play in the run game as well as doing a great job in coverage. He finished 2011 with eight pass break ups, as well as an interception. His best work was against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 14 when eh picked up two tackles for loss, and two pass break ups as well as a few pressures to go along with it. He’s no doubt one of the best.

5. Antoine Bethea, Indianapolis Colts: Despite being on a dreadful defense last season, Antonie Bethea remains one of the best safeties in the league. Despite not picking up an interception last year, he still did a terrific job of being an absolutely incredible tackling machine. He amassed 100+ tackles for the second straight season, and for the third time in four. No safety last year made more tackles in run defense than Bethea, and the gap was quite significant (21 tackles). Despite missing nine tackles, it was out of 112 attempts, so the efficiency of Bethea was unmatched. His excellence in run defense has him up here, if not for his consistency.

6. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks: Earl Thomas burst onto the scene in 2010 after the Seattle Seahawks chose him with their first round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Since then he’s become a playmaking safety that, along with Kam Chancellor, could soon become the best safety duo in the NFL. His stellar rookie year where he picked off five passes was nearly superseded by a very good 2011 where he went to his first Pro Bowl. Thomas picked up two interceptions, and 96 tackles. There’s nowhere to go but up for the former Longhorn, and for his Seahawks as well. Look out for Thomas in 2012 on a breakout defense that may cause him to really breakout this season.

7. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills: The former Oregon Duck Jairus Byrd had an absurd rookie season. In 14 games played (11 games started), Byrd picked up 42 tackles, and nine, count ‘em, nine interceptions. The league-leading mark caused Bills fans, and some NFL pundits, to start to overstate and overrate him. He fell back to earth in 2010 in more games played, and in more starts, but really came into his own last year when he became a free safety that wasn’t just a ballhawk, but a safety that could do a very good job in coverage. He picked up three interceptions, along with 98 tackles, seven pass deflections, and eight pass break ups. In coverage, just over half (51.5%) of passes thrown in his direction were completed. He’s an emerging talent that will continue to get better.

8. Michael Griffin, Tennessee Titans: Michael Griffin is a prime example of a player that possesses a rich amount of talent, but has not fully lived up to it. Griffin is a safety that plays very well in run coverage, but is very flawed in pass coverage. He’s found himself getting baited too often for him to be higher on this list, and also unfortunately suffers from the fact that the Titans don’t have even a subpar pass rush. The former Longhorn has also not been so great at tackling the last three seasons. On 3,439 snaps, Griffin missed 41 tackles, which was only surpassed by two players: Ronde Barber and Tanard Jackson. That is a very harmful stat considering that Griffin plays on the last line of defense. For the money that the Titans just signed Griffin for, they, and he had better hope his level of play increases.

9. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs: I’m not usually somebody who likes to overrate players and overstate them when they have a small sample size to work with. Eric Berry, to me, is the exception and not the rule. Berry was a high-end prospect coming out of the University of Tennessee in 2010, and was selected in the Top 10 by the Kansas City Chiefs. After picks of Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson didn’t pan out too well (although they were exceptional last year at stopping the run) they were hoping Berry would translate well. Needless to say, he did. Berry made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, and while that doesn’t take much, it is not like he was not deserving of it. Berry played on every single defensive snap of the Kansas City Chiefs’ season, racked up 87 tackles, two sacks, four interceptions, and ten pass deflections. For a rookie, those are incredible numbers. Berry’s responsibility as the safety that covers the slot may increase in 2012, assuming he is healthy, and could help the Chiefs in a big way. After a season that lasted just five snaps was halted by a torn ACL, look for big things for Eric Berry this year, assuming he fully recovers. Which, from all indications, seems likely.

10. Danieal Manning, Houston Texans: The Chicago Bears let Danieal Manning go to the Houston Texans in the 2011 offseason, and paid the price dearly because their safety situation with Major Wright and Chris Conte is a mess. Meanwhile, Manning along with Johnathan Joseph helped the Texans revitalize their defense and go to the playoffs for the first time in their franchise’s history. Danieal might be the most underrated safety in the NFL in my opinion; he’s quick, smart in coverage, and rarely makes mistakes. How many missed tackles in coverage did he make last year? Zero. How many has he made the last three seasons? Just seven. Quarterbacks had a rating of a miniscule 70.5 throwing in his direction in 2011, which was up from the small 59.7 in 2010 when quarterbacks only had a 55 completion percentage throwing his way. Unlike the other Manning’s, he’s not a household name, and also not related to them, but Danieal Manning is really, really good and deserves recognition for that.