The Big Board
| Ranking | Name | College | Height | Weight | Athletic Traits | Coverage Skills | Run Defense | Biggest Concern | Summary | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Edwards | Kentucky | 6'0 | 201 | Good speed, quickness and balance with decent agility. | Good movement skills for a box safety with decent awareness in zone and good ball skills. | Generally good tackler with good gap discipline but takes some overly aggressive angles and can struggle if unable to set his feet. | Does he have any one trait that is going to allow him to add significant value? | Very well rounded player with good coverage traits in particular but isn't a game changer. | Mid 3rd Round |
| 2 | Johnathan Abram | Mississippi State | 6'0 | 215 | Good speed with decent quickness and balance but agility is only ok. | Decent movement skills and breaks to the ball skills but lacks ball skills and awareness is mediocre. Probably won't be able to consistently play in man coverage. | Good tackler who takes good angles to the ball. | Can he process to the point of being a plus coverage player? | Good athlete and run defender but his coverage is more promise than production. | Late 3rd Round |
| 3 | Juan Thornhill | Virginia | 6'0 | 200 | Good speed and quickness but balance and agility aren't amazing. | Decent movement skills with good awareness and ball skills, but struggles with agility when asked to play close to the line and isn't really able to stay with receivers in man. | Tackling is decent but struggles to get off blocks and is vulnerable to late changes in direction. | Can he he find a scheme that makes the most of his skill-set while hiding his issues? | Long with the ability to be disruptive over the middle but length creates change of direction issues limiting how he can be used effectively. | Mid 4th Round |
| 4 | Amani Hooker | Iowa | 6'0 | 210 | Decent speed and quickness with good agility and balance. | Good movement skills with decent ball skills but struggles for awareness. | Decent tackler but angles are over aggressive a lot of the time. | Does he have the ability to be impactful as a zone defender? | Decent athlete with some nice coverage traits but position change could take some adjusting. | Late 4th Round |
| 5 | Mike Bell | Fresno State | 6'3 | 200 | Decent speed, balance and quickness with ok agility. | Good awareness in coverage with decent ball skills and movement skills are decent but isn't going to be able to play in man coverage. | Not the best tackler and doesn't really show the ability to work off blocks. | Is he a good enough run defender to play in the box? | Deep safety who'll need to move closer to the line in the NFL, but whose run defense will make that non-trivial. | High 5th Round |
| 6 | Sheldrick Redwine | Miami | 6'1 | 195 | Decent speed with ok quickness and balance but agility isn't great. | Decent ball skills and movement skills are ok but awareness doesn't really impress and can be slow to break to the ball. | Good tackler with good discipline. | Can he offer enough in coverage to see the field? | Run and hit safety who will be a plus on rushing downs but who might struggle in coverage. | Late 5th Round |
| 7 | D'Cota Dixon | Wisconsin | 5'10 | 204 | Decent speed, quickness and balance but struggles for agility. | Struggles to move with receivers in space and likely incapable of playing man at the NFL level but has some ball skills and moves ok in zone. | Misses more tackles than he should but decent at taking on blockers and takes solid angles. | Does he offer enough in any one area to carve out a role. | Run and hit safety with decent athleticism but who is in need of some development. | Late 6th Round |
There aren’t a huge number of box safeties in the 2019 class, and for teams that are looking at this as a major need, it should also be noted that there aren’t any elite box safety prospects. Mike Edwards is probably the safest as well as the best in coverage, with the ability to play some man coverage against tight ends and slower receivers while also having decent awareness in zone with solid ball skills. As a run defender, he is decent but would benefit from playing close to the line all the time where he isn’t asked to make tackles while closing. In short, it’s unlikely he every develops into a star but should be solid from day one.
Then there are two players whose ceilings are likely higher but who lack the polish of Edwards. Abrams has great speed and is a good run defender, but needs to develop his coverage in order to make the most of his athleticism; he also isn’t likely able to play in man coverage at a high level due to agility concerns, but he has the speed and quickness to offer upside as a zone defender if teams are happy with his processing ability.
Thornhill is a player who similarly flashes a lot of nice coverage traits but isn’t likely to be able to play much man coverage. He does have better awareness than Johnathan Abram and is probably a better coverage player right now, but is neither as athletic nor as good a run defender. He is likely the most scheme-limited with his best role being as a third down safety for a team that plays a lot of split two-high coverage where he can be an impactful zone defender without having to match up in man at the line.
The final box safety worth significant consideration for teams with a need in this area is Amani Hooker, who largely played nickel at Iowa but who will likely be forced to play safety in the NFL and who lacks the speed to play the deep middle; he does a lot of nice things, especially in coverage, but he will likely need some time to develop in the NFL and his ceiling isn’t so high as to make the risk worth a higher pick than what he is graded as here.
As has already been said, the Panthers likely aren’t in the market for a box safety, especially through the first two days of the draft, but if they are able to address their free safety need early on, if any of the four players mentioned in detail here fall to the final day of the draft, the Panthers might have some interest – if only from a value point of view.
