Sporting News Today - Ed Reed top Safety!

[awalt]

Top 5 (20 ranked) --

1. Ed Reed
2. Troy Polamalu
3. Adrian Wilson
4. Bob Sanders
5. Chris Hope

A mighty fine group of safeties there...maybe on of the best group of 5 ever IMHO....

[psuasskicker]

It should really be the top four, and then everyone else. It's not really close IMO between those top four and whoever...

- C -

[Lee Van Cleef]

Top 5 (20 ranked) --

1. Ed Reed
2. Troy Polamalu
3. Adrian Wilson
4. Bob Sanders
5. Chris Hope

A mighty fine group of safeties there...maybe on of the best group of 5 ever IMHO....

I'm not certain, but I reckon the Stock may disagree?

[Rxdoxx]

On NFL network, were talking about who the QB fears... bantering about great pass russers when Solomon Wilcots chimed in that it is Ed Reed more than anyone else who keeps QBs from getting sleep the night before the game.
So not just a great player but an aura that sets him above the others on the list.

Course this is the same NFL network that was still scrolling Samari Rolle as a Ravens key loss as of last week when I saw it.

[baltimore_hokie]

chris hope isn't even in the same league as the other 4 guys

[Jeremiah W]

As of last year I would still put Dawkins on the list. He made a lot of big plays for the 3rd ranked D last year as well as being a Ray Lewis like vocal leader.

Griffin for the Titans was a ball hawk and all around very good S.

Laron Landry was also a dominant force on a top 10 D.

It is a key role and I think FS is more important and the Qb of the D.

[UKRavenStockers]

I'm not certain, but I reckon the Stock may disagree?

If the Stock refers to me then yes I agree and I'd go a step further and remove Sanders and Wilson from my top 5 and by some distance, they're both horifically one dimensional players. Wilson essentially gets the privelege of playing as an extra linebacker for the Cardinals and he covers like one too. His stats look gaudy because he doesn't play the same role as most other safety. Stick him in a conventional safety role and watch his play diminish. He's a different kind of safety, I don't think he's elite by any stretch of the imagination.

As for Sanders, he's got the luxury of playing as a box safety in a defence with an absurdly dreadful front seven. Stick him with even an average front seven and he has to play out of the box more often than he is capable of doing.

My top 5 safeties in the NFL right now would be:

1) Reed
2) Kerry Rhodes
3) Troy Polamalu
4) Chris Hope
5) Quintin Mikell

[Jeremiah W]

Come on. Kherry rhodes over Troy P? Can't do it. I lkie him and the guy in GB Collins also, but Troy makes way too many plays for the top ranked D to be any lower than #2.

Wilson for the Cards may be more of a LB than a S, but he is one hell of a player, and like Dawkins, makes a lot of game changing takles all over the place. What he can not do in coverage, like Bob Sanders, they are not asked to do, but what they do is make a huge difference and it is very hard to argue that Kerry Rhodes made more difference than Bob Sanders or Adrian Wilson.

[Jeremiah W]

It should be top FS and top SS. They are as different as DT and DE or OLB and ILB.

[UKRavenStockers]

Come on. Kherry rhodes over Troy P? Can't do it. I lkie him and the guy in GB Collins also, but Troy makes way too many plays for the top ranked D to be any lower than #2.

Wilson for the Cards may be more of a LB than a S, but he is one hell of a player, and like Dawkins, makes a lot of game changing takles all over the place. What he can not do in coverage, like Bob Sanders, they are not asked to do, but what they do is make a huge difference and it is very hard to argue that Kerry Rhodes made more difference than Bob Sanders or Adrian Wilson.

Rhodes over Troy P is personal preference on how the two play, Rhodes is Ed Reed lite and has been under appreciated for years. I could really give a damn about where their respective defences rank, this is judging the individual, not the unit and for my money Rhodes is a marginally better player than Polamalu.

Wilson and Sanders do have to cover and their weakness is exposed in that area in almost every game. I'm not going to doubt their ability pursuing downhill to a play or adding extra beef to the box, but to me a top safety has to be able do everything, these guys aren't just mediocre in coverage they're poor and because of that I can't put them into an elite bracket. They are limited players, box safeties and nothing more, too many front sevens are too good to have a box safety lurking around. Top safeties to me live outside the box but can come up and put in a good, efficient shift inside the box. These two can't do that.


It should be top FS and top SS. They are as different as DT and DE or OLB and ILB.

With regards to this there are so many different ways to decide who is FS and SS, and so many teams use them differently that you really can't separate them clinically so I've no issue with compiling them into one list for just safeties. If you want to separate out the different types of safeties for how NFL teams deploy them you could end up with 5 or 6 different lists. SS and FS doesn't split them effectively.

[Lee Van Cleef]

If the Stock refers to me then yes I agree and I'd go a step further and remove Sanders and Wilson from my top 5 and by some distance, they're both horifically one dimensional players.

Yeah, i use it out of respect because you know a damn sight more about football than I do and are the definitive article.

I hd a feeling you'd not be in favour of Sanders!

[Lee Van Cleef]

On NFL network, were talking about who the QB fears... bantering about great pass russers when Solomon Wilcots chimed in that it is Ed Reed more than anyone else who keeps QBs from getting sleep the night before the game.
So not just a great player but an aura that sets him above the others on the list.

Course this is the same NFL network that was still scrolling Samari Rolle as a Ravens key loss as of last week when I saw it.

When was this?

[Rxdoxx]

Lee, was last week and the week before that so I assume it has been going on in the key losses scroll ever since he was cut, can't say if it is still there this week been too many better things to watch

[psuasskicker]

As for Sanders, he's got the luxury of playing as a box safety in a defence with an absurdly dreadful front seven. Stick him with even an average front seven and he has to play out of the box more often than he is capable of doing.

Hunh? He's a solid pass defender but who cares? He's simply the best run defending safety in the game and it's not close. If the guy could stay healthy, he could possibly be compared to Ray Lewis in a couple of years cause very simply that defense is an entirely different unit with him on the field than with him off it.

The only reason he isn't #1 on my own personal list is because he's injured too often. But the guy can flat out play football. He doesn't catch a lot of INTs, but he's a strong safety...they're not typically asked to be a primarily outside the box safety.

The guy would be an absolute monster on our defense if he was here. Seriously, you think taking him from the Colts to the Ravens makes him worse??? That pretty much seems like the definition of insanity...

- C -

[crazyraven]

I think the top 2 are probably right-Ed and Troy. From looking at this with my purple glasses, Reed looks like the he is the best fit for where they ranked him. However I'm sure there are some fans (outside of steelers or Ravens fans), who don't have a dog in the race, would probably sight troy as a top Safety, if not the better one.

[UKRavenStockers]

Hunh? He's a solid pass defender but who cares? He's simply the best run defending safety in the game and it's not close. If the guy could stay healthy, he could possibly be compared to Ray Lewis in a couple of years cause very simply that defense is an entirely different unit with him on the field than with him off it.

The only reason he isn't #1 on my own personal list is because he's injured too often. But the guy can flat out play football. He doesn't catch a lot of INTs, but he's a strong safety...they're not typically asked to be a primarily outside the box safety.

The guy would be an absolute monster on our defense if he was here. Seriously, you think taking him from the Colts to the Ravens makes him worse??? That pretty much seems like the definition of insanity...

- C -

If you think Sanders is a solid pass defender then I really think you're holding him to a low standard and that'd make most safeties in the NFL "solid" pass defenders, which they quite clearly are not.

And as for putting him in the Ravens defence, yes I think it would make him an inferior and less impactful player. We don't need to play with a box safety, our front seven can contain and shut down running games without the aid of our strong safety living in the box. Sanders wouldn't have half the impact in Baltimore that he does in Indy and he'd be exposed in pass coverage even more with the amount of time he'd have to spend out of the box.

[Jeremiah W]

If you think Sanders is a solid pass defender then I really think you're holding him to a low standard and that'd make most safeties in the NFL "solid" pass defenders, which they quite clearly are not.

And as for putting him in the Ravens defence, yes I think it would make him an inferior and less impactful player. We don't need to play with a box safety, our front seven can contain and shut down running games without the aid of our strong safety living in the box. Sanders wouldn't have half the impact in Baltimore that he does in Indy and he'd be exposed in pass coverage even more with the amount of time he'd have to spend out of the box.

I do not agree. Sanders is a beast. He would be even better on our D and most likley would have not got hurt from making to many stops on RBs untouched through the front 7.

He would cover at least as well as Landry, and would most likley have much more impact than Dawan did who was getting, picks, sacks and blasting WRs over the middle.

Guys do not get exposed that much in our defense when it is healthy. Cory Ivy was out there on a lot of snaps in 2006 when we dominated, as well as a rookie Dawan Landry, but rex never asked them to do much they could not not do.

[psuasskicker]

If you think Sanders is a solid pass defender then I really think you're holding him to a low standard and that'd make most safeties in the NFL "solid" pass defenders, which they quite clearly are not.

And as for putting him in the Ravens defence, yes I think it would make him an inferior and less impactful player. We don't need to play with a box safety, our front seven can contain and shut down running games without the aid of our strong safety living in the box. Sanders wouldn't have half the impact in Baltimore that he does in Indy and he'd be exposed in pass coverage even more with the amount of time he'd have to spend out of the box.

This is pretty much shocking to me. I don't agree with any of it.

- C -

[jonboy79]

This is pretty much shocking to me. I don't agree with any of it.

- C -

Hmm... I agree with all of it. Bob Sanders is no more of an all around safety then Roy Williams was in his prime, and less so then an in his prime Brian Dawkins.

[Jeremiah W]

Hmm... I agree with all of it. Bob Sanders is no more of an all around safety then Roy Williams was in his prime, and less so then an in his prime Brian Dawkins.

I think what those guys do vs what Reed and FS are asked to do is too different to compare. It is like knocking a DT or ILB for not getting sacks or an OLB or DE for not getting 10 tackles a game.

All I know about Bob Sanders is the Indy defense is awful without him, and good with him. He stops the run, forces fumbles and changes the momentum with big hits. Same thing with Dawkins and Wilson and Roy Williams when he was good. They may not be able to cover a 6-6 270 pound TE than runs a 4.7, or any WRs, or scat backs, but they can still do a lot of good.

Reed is like Deion playing FS. He baits the Qb into throwing picks and takes most of them back a long way. Troy P has a little bit of both and that is why he is the best SS, but there is a role for the Rodney HGHarrisons and Brian Dawkins true thumper SS spots in any good defense, you just need a cover guy at FS and a LB or two with man coverage skills.

[RavenScallywag]

Coming from the same people who ranked Ray Lewis the 4th best MLB, having Ed Reed get the nod OVER Troy Polamalu is a bit of a shocker!

PFT had their award/rankings last year and they gave the nod to Troy Polamalu, simply because the Steelers had won the Super Bowl and they claimed he did more damage to Flacco than Reed did to Roethlisberger.

Likewise it seems most writers would give the edge to Polamalu, nice to see Ed Reed getting the props. I think it's really 1a, 1b, then the rest...Reed and Polamalu are in a class all to themselves.