2012 Safety Class: Any playmakers?

[bucfan12]

Any playmakers at safety in this upcoming draft class? TJ McDonald is one that comes to mind from USC, but is he worth a 2nd round projection right now?

[CC.SD]

Originally Posted by bucfan12

Any playmakers at safety in this upcoming draft class? TJ McDonald is one that comes to mind from USC, but is he worth a 2nd round projection right now?

Easily worth a second...I don't know, if he posts the right numbers someone could take him with a first. There are some shades of Earl Thomas in his game. Some local columnists have been touting him as our best secondary prospect since Troy and that's probably not too far off. Strictly a FS though.

He's really upped his game from last year, but it still makes for a nice highlight reel:

[cmarq83]

I've been wondering recently why Harrison Smith doesn't get more draft love. It's not a particularly great safety crop, he comes from a program with a lot of publicity, he has great measurables (6'2", 215 4.4~4.5 40 time), has been productive (90 tackles and 7int's last year), and most importantly when you watch him he comes off as instinctive and a better supporter in the running game than guys like McDonald, Lester, and even Barron. So what gives? He's a 5th year senior so are their injury concerns? I know he had a rough start to his career, but he's looked really good in every game I've seen him play in during the last couple of years.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by cmarq83

I've been wondering recently why Harrison Smith doesn't get more draft love. It's not a particularly great safety crop, he comes from a program with a lot of publicity, he has great measurables (6'2", 215 4.4~4.5 40 time), has been productive (90 tackles and 7int's last year), and most importantly when you watch him he comes off as instinctive and a better supporter in the running game than guys like McDonald, Lester, and even Barron. So what gives? He's a 5th year senior so are their injury concerns? I know he had a rough start to his career, but he's looked really good in every game I've seen him play in during the last couple of years.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Harrison Smith has all the measureables but to me lacked production early on. Recently Smith has looked like he's making more of an impact.

I like McDonald but like Taylor Mays it's hard to tell safety impact at USC. A couple of his ints we're pretty much airmailed right to him. Another guy who i think might surprise people at the next level is Tom Wort lb out of Oklahoma, reminds me of John Lynch at a similar stage only faster.

[JBCX]

I think you can make a good case for Mark Barron of Alabama as an impact safety in the Sean Taylor mold of "physical freak"