Draft Preview 2021: Safeties

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April 2, 2021

by Alex Zeese

The Washington Football Team seemed to have gotten lucky when 2020 seventh round draft choice Kamren Curl stepped in for Landon Collins last season and not only played well but seems to have taken the starting job in Washington. However, the team still has a serious lack of talent at the free safety position. Troy Apke is the lone player on the roster right now who fits that role, but his NFL career looks to be as a backup and special teams player. For that reason finding a true free safety should be a high priority for Washington in the upcoming draft. It does not look to be a particularly strong safety class, particularly at free safety.

I’ve done my best to categorize players as either free safety or strong safety in this list below, although it’s not always an obvious distinction and few draft analysis sites distinguish between the two anymore.

Trevon Moehring, S, TCU, 6’2” 208 lbs.

Moehring is most folks’ top-rated safety in the class, so I felt obligated to look at him. In 3 seasons he has 124 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 7 interceptions and 21 passes defended. Although from what I’ve seen written he may be more of a strong safety in the NFL, he’s not lost in coverage like some strong safeties.  He can play deep when called on. He is probably the only safety who could go in the 1st round if draft boards are to be trusted.

Jevon Holland, FS, Oregon, 6’1”, 200 lbs.

Holland is projected as a day 2 pick, probably mid to late 2nd round.  Holland didn’t play at all in 2020 and therefore only has 2 years under his belt in the college game. He is good in pass coverage he looks okay in the run game but is a coverage 1st guy. Holland plays decent tight coverage downfield and has a good number of INT’s. He had 108 tackles in his 2 seasons, plus 9 interceptions and 10 deflected passes. Holland is also able to be a return man on special teams – and had 17 punt returns for an average of 14.4 yards per return.  That would be a real asset for Washington, which needs help in that area.

Hamsah Nasirildeen, SS, Florida State 6’4 212 lbs.

Good tackler. Gets in the run game quickly. Probably would be a box safety and Washington’s already has two of those and they don’t need another. In four seasons, he had 234 tackles, 1 sack, 3 forced fumbles, and 4 interceptions. Even if he’s not in Washington, he’s a physical player who could stick around in the NFL.

Andre Cisco, SS, Syracuse, 6’0” 203 lbs.

Projected to be a day 2 pick, he played 3 seasons but missed a good chunk of time with torn ACL in 2020. Cisco looks like he can play both strong and free, but is probably a bit better in the box, and therefore may not be the best fit for Washington. Decent player, but with an injury like that and the fact that he probably doesn’t play the right role, I’d pass on him.

Damar Hamlin S, Pittsburgh, 6’1” 195 lbs.

Hamlin is a fifth-year senior who finished his career with the Panthers with 275 tackles, 6 interceptions and 21 passes defended.  Pitt has 2 guys on this list (Paris Ford is below), both of whom are projected to go in the middle rounds.  While neither played a true free/strong role, Hamlin looks to me like he was the guy who was a bit better in coverage and man to man. Hamlin is probably better suited for what Washington needs as a free safety, whose primary role is to stay at the back of the defense and play coverage first. He’s a late 3rd or day 3 prospect.

Paris Ford, S, Pittsburgh 6’0″ 190 lbs.

While Ford was probably more the SS type in his time at Pitt, with his size Ford is more suited to play free safety in the NFL.  Ford is an exciting guy to watch.  He plays with a lot of energy.  While not a true free safety I saw a lot of raw talent there. He had 90 tackles in 2019 and 41 in 2020 when they had a 7 game season. Ford is very athletic player, who is probably at his best playing a zone when dropping back, but it looks like he takes good lines to the ball carrier in the run game. He could be grabbed in the 3rd round.

Ar’Darius Washington S, TCU 5’8″ 179 lbs.

Due to his size, Washington would probably be a backup and special teams player.  But looking at what he did in college I do think he would play the center field role well in DC.  Ar’Darius had 5 interceptions in his 2019 campaign but none in 2020. He is day 3 prospect because of his size.

Richard LeCounte, S, Georgia, 5’11 190 lbs.

I saw somewhere that LeCounte was hurt in a motorcycle accident last year, which caused him to miss some time. He looks to be a hard hitter.  LeCounte is probably more of a strong safety than a free safety based how he comes down the field to lay the wood, but he has a knack for causing turnovers.  In 4 seasons he had 176 tackles, 8 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles with 6 recovered.  He’s probably an early day 3 pick.

Some others:

Shawn Davis, FS Florida 6’0″, 206 lbs.
Caden Sterns, S, Texas 6’1″ 205 lbs.
Joshuah Bledsoe, SS, Missouri, 6’0” 200 lbs.
Divine Deablo, SS, Virginia Tech 6′ 3″ 223 lbs.
Richie Grant, SS, Central Florida, 6’0 194 lbs.
Tyree Gillespie,  S, Missouri, 6’0″ 210 lbs.
Reed Blankenship, S, Middle Tenn. 6’1″ 200 lbs.