Which Safeties Might Be Off Packers’ NFL Draft Board?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos entering their final season under contract, the Green Bay Packers need a safety.
And it’s potentially not just a long-term need. If the Packers consider Savage their best bet to play in the slot, somebody has to replace him at safety, right? At the moment, the other safeties under contract are Vernon Scott, Shawn Davis and Innis Gaines. Combined, they played zero snaps on defense and only 31 snaps on special teams last season.
The Packers have drafted 10 safeties during the Ted Thompson-Brian Gutekunst era. All but Scott, a 2020 seventh-round pick who didn’t have a pro day because of the pandemic, have full slates of testing numbers.
The historic Combine average in the 40-yard dash is 4.57 seconds. Seven of the nine beat that time. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (4.58), the team’s first-round pick in 2014, missed the mark by a negligible 0.01 seconds. Tyrone Culver, a sixth-round pick in 2006, ran his in 4.62.
The Combine average in the 20-yard shuttle in 4.22. Again, only two were slower. Josh Jones, a second-round pick in 2017, ran the slowest time, 4.40 seconds, but blazed a 4.41 40 at 220 pounds. Culver clocked a 4.35.
The three-cone drill was irrelevant. Four beat the historic average of 6.99 while five were slower.
Clinton-Dix, with his 33-inch vertical, was the only one who really fell short of the Combine average of 35.6.
Relative Athletic Score combines all the height/weight/athleticism figures into one number on a 0-to-10 scale. Morgan Burnett (9.76 in 2010) and Jones (9.28) were the truly elite testers. Marviel Underwood (4.88), a third-round pick in 2005, and Clinton-Dix (4.87) were the below-average testers.
With all of that, which prospects might be off the board?
Based on the 40: Oregon’s Vernon McKinley (4.65), Texas A&M’s Leon O’Neal (4.70). An incredible six safeties who almost certainly will be drafted ran in the 4.3s.
Based on the shuttle: Louisiana’s Vernon Butler (4.32), Florida A&M’s Markquese Bell (4.37), Auburn’s Smoke Monday (4.42), Clemson’s Nolan Turner (4.46). Butler ran a 4.36 in the 40, though, so probably is safe. The same maybe will be true for Turner and his 4.37 in the 40. Of the options to go in the first three rounds, Georgia’s Lewis Cine, Cincinnati’s Bryan Cook and Illinois’ Kerby Joseph didn’t do a shuttle for various reasons.
Based on the three-cone: Georgia Tech’s Juanyeh Thomas (7.33).
Georgia’s Tech’s Tariq Carpenter posted a 4.46 shuttle and 7.50 three-cone but, at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, might move to linebacker. The Packers hosted him on a predraft visit so apparently aren’t concerned.
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