Outside of quarterback, the most talent-starved position in the NFL is safety. There are not many safeties in the NFL who cover in space and have the awareness to thrive in the deep middle zone. What the NFL does have is a plethora of box safeties who can come up and give support versus the run.

The problem is that this year’s safety class just isn’t very good. There are a couple of players who have the potential to play well as a free safety, but the majority of safeties fit in at the already crowded box safety spot.

Even though that isn’t a lot of top-tier talent, there are a lot of players with specific traits that be taken to build the perfect safety prospect.

Size: Clayton Geathers, Central Florida

Safeties at their core are basically a hybrid of linebackers and cornerbacks. They have to come down in run support like a linebacker, but they also have to be able to move well in space and cover a lot of ground quickly. Therefore, they have to have enough size to not get chewed up against the run, but they also have to be small enough so that they have the requisite athleticism to cover a great deal of space.

Central Florida’s Clayton Geathers perfectly balances those two necessities as he checks in at 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds with 31.625-inch arms. Geathers is sleek enough so that he isn’t limited athletically, but he is big enough to come down in the box and take on tight ends and full backs in the run game. Furthermore, Geathers is long enough to compete at the catch point with any wide receiver. When you are building the perfect safety, he probably looks similar to Clayton Geathers.

Athleticism: Eric Rowe, Utah

With the evolution of the spread offense, defenses have started to employ a lot of Cover 3 and Cover 1 coverages to combat the different groupings of personnel (see Seattle and Dallas). However, to be effective with either of these coverages, the team must have a great free safety who has the athleticism to cover a ton of space extremely quickly. This is largely why Seattle’s defense is extremely effective and Dallas’ is mediocre.

The player who has the athleticism to play with great range in the center field is Utah’s Eric Rowe. Now, you may be saying, “Rowe played as a cornerback his senior year.” While that is true, Rowe was a safety for the three years prior to that and it is the position that he projects best to in the NFL. Rowe has the range to play between the hashes and he can close extremely quickly on underneath routes. Rowe has athleticism to make all the plays on the football field and that is exactly what we are looking for in the perfect safety prospect.

Tackling: Kyshoen Jarrett, Virginia Tech

When you play defense in the NFL you have to be able to tackle, there is no way around it. It doesn’t matter how well you do anything else, if you can’t tackle, offenses will exploit you and you will become a liability. This is especially true as the safeties are usually the last line of defense and if they miss, it will probably end up as six points for the offense.

The best tackler in this safety class is a relatively unheralded player who most people don’t even know about. Virginia Tech’s Kyshoen Jarrett has a number of issues as a prospect, but you can’t question his ability to bring down opposing ball carriers. Jarrett is one of the few players who was able to bring down Duke Johnson in the open field on multiple occasions. He understands how to come to balance in space, which makes him less susceptible to jump cuts and juke moves.

Coverage Ability: Damarious Randall, ASU

Coverage ability is the single most important trait for a safety to have, but it is the single toughest trait to find in a college safety. Not many college safeties have shown the ability to play the deep middle between the hashes, cover a tight end out of the slot or even stick with a receiver breaking down the seam. This is an area where most college and pro safeties are exploited on a game-by-game basis. Therefore, players who showcase the ability to hold up in coverage multiple situations have a premium placed on them.

Arizona State’s Damarious Randall is one of the few safeties that could be comfortable playing down in the slot in certain situations. Randall has fluid hips to turn and run with wide receivers and tight ends and he understands how to play with leverage. He doesn’t have the best ball skills and he isn’t very physical, but his footwork, hip fluidity and range are second to none in this draft class. Randall’s coverage ability would allow NFL defensive coordinators to get very creative with their coverages because of Randall’s flexibility to play well in a wide variety of schemes.

Ball Skills: Gerod Holliman, Louisville

Defenses don’t get a lot of opportunities to take away the ball from opposing offenses; therefore, when they do get an opportunity, it is paramount that they take advantage. This is why teams value ball hawks in the secondary so highly; they don’t let opportunities get wasted.

Louisville’s Gerod Holliman may possibly be the worst tackler in this draft class, regardless of position, but he also has some of the best ball skills as he compiled 14 interceptions last year, which led college football. Holliman plays the ball in the air like a wide receiver as he showcases an incredible ability to track the ball and go up and snatch it out of the air.