2012 NFL Draft | Top Strong Safeties

2012 DRAFTTEK BIG BOARD - Ranked by Position
2012 Strong Safeties
Most Recent Revision: 4/25/2012

LOT

ROT

RBF

RBC

WRF

WRP

WRS

STRONG SAFETY

The Strong Safety plays against the strong side of the offensive formation. His responsibilities include:

1) Pass coverage against the TE or double coverage with the CB agaisnt the flanker (WR).
2) Run support, taking gap responsibilities between linebackers
3) Rotating zone responsibilities, sometimes serving as the "spy" on the QB

This diagram shows the SS in a 4-3 alignment. One SS prospect may be selected over another based on the following factors:

A. Prevailing defensive philosophy: The classic run-stopping Strong Safety is diminishing in today's NFL as more teams run a balanced offense and pass to establish the run. It is no longer just the "two-deep" zone teams that utilize interchangeable safeties for coverage. 3-4 teams have an additional inside LB, which reduces the responsibility of the SS in run support.

B. Opponent's offensive philosophy: As stated above, more teams run a balanced offense (same number of players on either side of the Center) - utilizing 2 TE's, 2 WR's and 1 RB (think Colts). With more receivers in the pattern, pass coverage skills become paramount for the SS.

DE43

DE34

DT43

DT34

OLB43

OLB34

WILB

SILB

Big Ten

SEC

PAC 12

Big 12