Position Group Breakdown – Safeties
June 17, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Welcome to another edition of my position group breakdown series! Get excited, people. Here’s what I’ve covered so far:
- Offensive line (click here)
- Running backs (click here)
- Cornerbacks (click here)
This week, we’re going to finish up the secondary and take a look at safeties. This is an interesting group comprised of a combination of proven vets, players looking to prove themselves, and young players. It’s also yet another group for which we don’t really know what to expect, performance-wise, in 2020. Let’s jump right in.
Departures
Arrivals
Kamren Kurl
Returning Players
Landon Collins (6’0” / 222) is the obvious leader of this group and is one of the leaders of the entire defense. He came to Washington with great fanfare and is in year two of a huge contract, 6 years and $84M with $26M guaranteed at signing. He had a good but not great first season with the Redskins, playing all 16 games and making 117 total tackles, including 78 solo, 1 sack, 4 passes defended, and 2 forced fumbles. Collins made 3 straight Pro Bowls from 2016 – 2018 and was selected as a First Team All Pro in 2016, but that kind of success simply didn’t happen last year. In my view, Collins is best used as an in the box strong safety and not as either a single high free safety or in a split zone coverage like cover 2. I’ve frequently said on the show that Collins is about 20 pounds from being a full-time linebacker, and the Redskins would be best served by not leaving him in one on one man coverage situations with any degree of regularity. If he’s used primarily in the box, with limited coverage responsibilities, he has a chance to live up to his contract. On the good side, Collins seems to be a quality leader, which is a necessity given the status of the rest of the safety group.
Sean Davis (6’1” / 202) came to the Redskins from the Steelers on a 1 year, $4M contract. He was a 2nd round pick who never quite lived up to his draft status in Pittsburgh and missed all but one game in 2019 with a shoulder injury. He’s on a classic “prove-it” deal. Davis has an outstanding athletic profile: at the 2016 NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.46 seconds, did 21 bench press reps, jumped 10’6” in the standing broad jump and 37.5 inches in the vertical leap, and ran the short shuttle in 3.97 seconds. He could be a great fit as a single-high free safety if he can only put it all together and live up to his draft status and natural gifts. It looks to be a virtual certainty that Davis is going to start opposite Landon Collins; the only real question is whether he can excel in the role or whether he’s going to be just another mediocre player on a one year deal who moves on next year.
Deshazor Everett (6’0” / 198) is a 2015 undrafted free agent from Texas A&M. He is on the second extension of his rookie deal and is signed through the 2022 season. Everett has demonstrated the ability to be a spot starter, but his real skill has been as a mainstay of the Redskins’ special teams ever since he arrived in Washington, and there’s no reason to think that it won’t continue with this new coaching staff. My best guess is that Everett continues in this role under the new coaching staff and only starts in the event of injury to either Collins or Davis. If that happens, I view Everett as a more of a single-high free safety, so if it’s Collins that gets hurt, the team may have to do some juggling around to make it work.
Troy Apke (6’1” / 200), the 2018 fourth round pick out of Penn St., is known primarily for his 4.34-caliber straight line speed. In 2 seasons, he’s played in 17 games and has 27 tackles and 1 interception. I hesitate to call any fourth rounder a “bust”, but it’s fair to say that Apke thusfar has not yet given indication that he is or will become starter-worthy. I view Apke as a depth and special teams asset only.
Jeremy Reaves (5’11” / 205) has been back and forth between the Redskins practice squad since he came here in 2018, but was active for 2 games in 2018 and 9 games last season, making a combined total of 15 tackles and 1 pass defense. He’s only signed through 2020. About all I can say regarding Reaves is that he is a young guy who will get a chance to prove himself this year. It’s improbable that he will ever become a full-time starter in Washington, but it’s not far-fetched to think that he might be able to beat out Troy Apke for a backup role this year.
Finally, Kamren Curl (6’1” / 206) is one of Washington’s two seventh round draft picks. Like Reaves, Curl’s chances of making the active roster and earning a legitimate role in year one are slim, but given the state of the safety group, he’ll get his shot to make it. He isn’t fast (4.6 second 40 yard dash) and isn’t a big leaper by NFL defensive back standards (34.5” vertical leap), but he’s very strong (24 bench press reps), and that screams “in the box” to me, meaning that he’s a good candidate to be a backup to Landon Collins. There’s not much to say about Curl until we get to see him live and in person at training camp.
Predictions
I see the team keeping 4 safeties on the active roster plus at least one on the practice squad. Landon Collins is uncuttable this year under any circumstances because of his contract, and it’s hard to see Sean Davis as anything but a roster lock (obviously barring injury). The same goes for Deshazor Everett since he’s an experienced veteran backup and a special teams ace, so that leaves Troy Apke, Jeremy Reaves, and Kamren Curl to fight for the one remaining spot on the active roster. I’m going with Apke here, simply because he’s more experienced and still on a cheap rookie contract, and because the idea of either Kurl or Reaves blowing the coaches away without the benefit of any offseason program at all seems unlikely. However, Curl and Reaves will both be good candidates for the practice squad, Curl because he’s a draft pick and Reaves because he has real, in-game experience. If that happens, all six of the current Redskins safeties will make the 2020 roster in one capacity or another.
What do you think? Let me know in the comment section.